A couple of weeks ago, a blogger questioned “How it is that 'Peaches' sexually derogatory attack on President Bush is not back lashed against to the extent of ‘The Dixie Chicks'?” They proposed a conclusion of sorts which rested on the idea that perhaps we are more accepting of controversial comments made through lyrics with the “distraction of a tune”. I agree with this but think that there is still a lot more to it and that the differing representations of The Dixie Chicks and Peaches is a significant factor.
I think the ideas and images which artists present work somewhat as signifiers, which the listener/consumer decodes and uses to inform their relationship with both the artist as a star and their music. Because the Dixie Chicks perform Country Music, they have always represented themselves as traditionally would be expected of female artists within the genre: good, wholesome, feminine, all-American. They have also in the past publicised the fact that they are mothers and from Texas. I hate to talk in generalities because I know that The Dixie Chicks are a huge band, but in the US at least, Country Music has often been aligned with right wing politics. Because of this, I can imagine that many of their right wing listeners would have decoded all these signs and come to the conclusion that just like them, The Dixie Chicks supported the US and of course their President, George Bush. So much so, that when lead singer, Natalie Maines made her comment, I can imagine that it caused them to completely re-evaluate their relationship to The Dixie Chicks as stars and their music.
In contrast, the same cannot be said of Canadian electro-rock artist Peaches. The images that she portrays are as confrontational and controversial as the sexual and political ideas expressed through her lyrics. Notably, she is not a Top 40 artist and despite having had some rotation on C4 etc., still exists on the periphery of popular music. Both her music videos and live performances focus significantly on the notion of performance and are incredibly sexual. Because the way that she represents herself is so overt, she automatically is unable to be marketed towards a mainstream audience and so her political views are instantaneously shielded from a large sector of society. I think this initial factor would protect Peaches from the types of attacks that The Dixie Chicks suffered. Also, of those that do enjoy her music, I would argue that many of them are aware while consuming her music that she is a controversial artist. This is because she is still quite underground and so her music has to be more actively obtained than the more mainstream, such as The Dixie Chicks.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
The Differing Representations of Peaches and The Dixie Chicks
A couple of weeks ago, a blogger questioned “How it is that 'Peaches' sexually derogatory attack on President Bush is not back lashed against to the extent of ‘The Dixie Chicks'?” They proposed a conclusion of sorts which rested on the idea that perhaps we are more accepting of controversial comments made through lyrics with the “distraction of a tune”. I agree with this but think that there is still a lot more to it and that the differing representations of The Dixie Chicks and Peaches is a significant factor.
I think the ideas and images which artists present work somewhat as signifiers, which the listener/consumer decodes and uses to inform their relationship with both the artist as a star and their music. Because the Dixie Chicks perform Country Music, they have always represented themselves as traditionally would be expected of female artists within the genre: good, wholesome, feminine, all-American. They have also in the past publicised the fact that they are mothers and from Texas. I hate to talk in generalities because I know that The Dixie Chicks are a huge band, but in the US at least, Country Music has often been aligned with right wing politics. Because of this, I can imagine that many of their right wing listeners would have decoded all these signs and come to the conclusion that just like them, The Dixie Chicks supported the US and of course their President, George Bush. So much so, that when lead singer, Natalie Maines made her comment, I can imagine that it caused them to completely re-evaluate their relationship to The Dixie Chicks as stars and their music.
In contrast, the same cannot be said of Canadian electro-rock artist Peaches. The images that she portrays are as confrontational and controversial as the sexual and political ideas expressed through her lyrics. Notably, she is not a Top 40 artist and despite having had some rotation on C4 etc., still exists on the periphery of popular music. Both her music videos and live performances focus significantly on the notion of performance and are incredibly sexual. Because the way that she represents herself is so overt, she automatically is unable to be marketed towards a mainstream audience and so her political views are instantaneously shielded from a large sector of society. I think this initial factor would protect Peaches from the types of attacks that The Dixie Chicks suffered. Also, of those that do enjoy her music, I would argue that many of them are aware while consuming her music that she is a controversial artist. This is because she is still quite underground and so her music has to be more actively obtained than the more mainstream, such as The Dixie Chicks.
I think the ideas and images which artists present work somewhat as signifiers, which the listener/consumer decodes and uses to inform their relationship with both the artist as a star and their music. Because the Dixie Chicks perform Country Music, they have always represented themselves as traditionally would be expected of female artists within the genre: good, wholesome, feminine, all-American. They have also in the past publicised the fact that they are mothers and from Texas. I hate to talk in generalities because I know that The Dixie Chicks are a huge band, but in the US at least, Country Music has often been aligned with right wing politics. Because of this, I can imagine that many of their right wing listeners would have decoded all these signs and come to the conclusion that just like them, The Dixie Chicks supported the US and of course their President, George Bush. So much so, that when lead singer, Natalie Maines made her comment, I can imagine that it caused them to completely re-evaluate their relationship to The Dixie Chicks as stars and their music.
In contrast, the same cannot be said of Canadian electro-rock artist Peaches. The images that she portrays are as confrontational and controversial as the sexual and political ideas expressed through her lyrics. Notably, she is not a Top 40 artist and despite having had some rotation on C4 etc., still exists on the periphery of popular music. Both her music videos and live performances focus significantly on the notion of performance and are incredibly sexual. Because the way that she represents herself is so overt, she automatically is unable to be marketed towards a mainstream audience and so her political views are instantaneously shielded from a large sector of society. I think this initial factor would protect Peaches from the types of attacks that The Dixie Chicks suffered. Also, of those that do enjoy her music, I would argue that many of them are aware while consuming her music that she is a controversial artist. This is because she is still quite underground and so her music has to be more actively obtained than the more mainstream, such as The Dixie Chicks.
more on women in hip-hop videos
There is no doubt in my mind that some hip-hop videos do portray women in a way that is degrading. Techniques like the ‘cutting up’ of women’s bodies, the ‘booty shot’, or having many semi-naked women writhing around the one rapper/’pimp’ lend themselves to suggesting that women are simply sexual objects to be amassed and then discarded. Yet, with respect to the uniqueness the method, I’m not sure how helpful it is to separate the treatment of women in some hip-hop videos from the wider cultural framework in which these videos are created. This kind of objectification is everywhere. There was an article in the Herald today about the ‘creeping sexism’ in ads on NZ television which cited two advertisements- one for Primo flavoured milk which features women in bikinis bouncing round on inflatable rubber balls; and one for Burger King which had women on horseback, dressed similarly and also bouncing. I’ve seen both these ads and I’m not sure what annoys me more- the fact that they are both selling objects completely unrelated to sex, or the bouncing. Mike Lee (who lectures here at uni in the Marketing department) was quoted later in the article as saying that sex will never go away in marketing but that the important thing is that the product should lend itself to sex appeal, like lingerie or perfume. Hip-hop videos are selling an artist’s music and image, and unlike flavoured milk or a burger the product does actually ‘lend itself to sex appeal’- the rap song being promoted is likely to talk about sex (a lot) and part of the rapper’s image is probably based on his perceived sexual prowess. At least the relevance is there! Hip-hop videos can give a particularly flashy and blatant example of the movement to see women as objects and sex as a commodity; but this movement is by no means unique to, or a result of, hip-hop itself.
Why'd you have to go and make things so..
By far the Best Single of The Year So Far, Avril Lavigne's 'girlfriend' is an example of some intra morphing going down. People who bother to armchair analyse the song and its video invariably tend to be the kinds of people who come to the conclusion that Avril has 'sold out' with this single, accusing her of contradicting the image she put forward in previous material. This ends up being a comparison of 'Sk8r Boi' and 'Girlfriend' which ignores all the rock ballad singles she did in between, and comes to the conclusion that Avril is no longer 'punk' and is contradctng the messages of er previous songs. This is problematic in that it gives Avril the benefit of the doubt in supposing that she was punk in the first place, which is an assumption based almost solely on her dress sense. It also assumes Avril to have 'sold out' of her feminist image, which is questionable given that 'girlfriend' seems to take its cues from riot party grrls like le tgre circa their last album that all the purists hated them for, rather than 'sk8r boi' which took its cues from... a male commercial punk band? so you could say most of the 'girlfriend' criticisms are of Avril doing a spot of 'serious'-'popular' intra morphing, where in reality it's a lot more, um..' 'complicated'.
Tiny Machine (or Fetishism Strikes Back)
The blogs this week on stylistic morphing (for whatever reason) reminded me of this homemade Ipod advert I first saw in FTVMS100; re-watching it, it’s actually a superb example of the fetishism of musical objects.
(Click here to view it: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tpb8woJGHu8)
Considering how polished it is, it no doubt took the author (who does not work for Apple) substantial time and effort to produce: this highlights the degree to which he idolizes his Ipod (or at least, perceives others to idolize them).
This fetish is enhanced by the song (“Tiny Machine”) which is about how much the singer ‘loves’ his tiny machine. The song is also well matched to the music: it’s 80’s style and the singers high pitched voice provide an almost psychedelic vibe, meanwhile the Ipods on screen leave colourful trails behind that create constantly shifting and morphing shapes. Together, the sound and music create a sensation akin to a drug trip (or at least as they are usually portrayed on film).
Associating the Ipod with this ecstatic happiness suggests to the viewer that the Ipod is so fantastic it creates this ‘high’ for its user (further reinforcing the extent of the fetish). Through its sound and music (and by the very fact it was made at all) this advert shows the extent to which the Ipod fetish is rapidly catching up with the record fetish as discussed in class.
(Click here to view it: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tpb8woJGHu8)
Considering how polished it is, it no doubt took the author (who does not work for Apple) substantial time and effort to produce: this highlights the degree to which he idolizes his Ipod (or at least, perceives others to idolize them).
This fetish is enhanced by the song (“Tiny Machine”) which is about how much the singer ‘loves’ his tiny machine. The song is also well matched to the music: it’s 80’s style and the singers high pitched voice provide an almost psychedelic vibe, meanwhile the Ipods on screen leave colourful trails behind that create constantly shifting and morphing shapes. Together, the sound and music create a sensation akin to a drug trip (or at least as they are usually portrayed on film).
Associating the Ipod with this ecstatic happiness suggests to the viewer that the Ipod is so fantastic it creates this ‘high’ for its user (further reinforcing the extent of the fetish). Through its sound and music (and by the very fact it was made at all) this advert shows the extent to which the Ipod fetish is rapidly catching up with the record fetish as discussed in class.
Emo, Punk (v2).
Whilst I hate to admit it emo is linked in someway to the original punk rock. Being a fan of punk music myself I get a little nervous when people link the two, but I thought I'd tackle representations of emo, and emo representations of film as a small challenge. This is partly because I thought that 'emo' music, and its representations needed some more discussion, even though 'emo' culture hasn’t been covered too much on film since this manifestation of punk rock has been fairly recent. I thought I'd take another look at it from the perspective of 'emo' representations of films rather than films which interpret emo culture or emo music since (with the exceptions of Spiderman 3) these are probably few and far between.
The representations I can come up with are mainly inter-textual, Blink 182 (OK, maybe not emo? I beg to differ) refer to "live like jack and sally" in their song "I Miss You", and that they could "have Halloween on Christmas", referring to the Tim Burton film The Nightmare before Christmas. Many emo kids (*chuckle*) cite this and The Crow as being their favorite movies, and numerous song reference both films. This is mainly due the shared mood of both films and the mood of emo (and goth music), but I also think it is explained as a recent musical culture trying to find a historical reference point, or way to be more than just a fad in a changing media culture.
On the other hand though, the media is more and more beginning to depict emo in film and television content. The latest Spiderman is rumored to feature an emo Peter Parker, complete with eyeliner and the fringe. Awesome.
Digital Reality?
In the Barry Sandywell and David Beer article for last lectures reading, Stylistic Morphing: Notes on the Digitalisation of Contemporary Music Culture, they speak of the increase in technology able to flawlessly recreate the sounds of musical instruments. With this technology so readily available at the touch of a computer, could the use of real instruments be under the threat of extinction? Morphing through the mixing of sounds and genres is making music more and more digital, and perhaps the listener may not be able to tell what is real from computer-generated. It may be possible that, in the future, real instruments could find themselves used only in live concerts, where the audience has the expectation to see them.
It will be interesting to see if the same technology used in the recreation of instruments could also be used to recreate flawless singing. Computers can already be used to help turn a not-so-great voice into something more listenable. It would certainly be difficult to create a whole song featuring a realistic-sounding digital voice, but the industry could already be heading in that direction through the voice manipulation frequently used in songs. I personally do not think such technology could survive, even if it could possibly be created. A big part of the appeal of a singer or band are the performers themselves, and what could replace this? Computer generated characters? (I guess it worked for the Gorillaz). This aside, real instruments and singers personalise and humanise music, this same feeling would be lacking in computer form.
The idea of flawless voice recreation may be simply too far-fetched to be possible, but it is still an interesting issue to contemplate in the ever-changing music industry.
Michael Jackson
I don't think we really uderstand what MJ has done in terms of entertainment...sometimes I wonder what he has really done to be this significant in the history of music and entertainment. I mean I am not sure how much of his sucess and popularity is based on his vocals but as a performer i think he has been the most influential of all times...His name and music has reached places that himself has not heard of...in the most remote villages of middle east, Africa, Asia, europe and every where else...He is like Charlie Chaplin except for his skills are in a different area...It is unbelievable how people who don't even speak english are crazy about MJ and they know his name and what he does...don't get me wrong I am hardly a music fan or MJ fan...But I do admire artists like Charlie Chaplin and MJ for their influential work or personality or whatever makes them unique...not even madonna or Elvis or any of today's artists have the fame and popularity that MJ has had for a few decades now universally...I wonder how much of it is because of his television appearances and his looks (as some people say weird looks)...I wonder if no one knew what he looked like or how he danced he would still be this popular...it really makes us wonder if people still think about music in the same way as they did before the emergence of television..maybe not because we are living in a visual world and everything needs to be visually justified to us...
Stylistic morphing, Craft Me Art
All packaged up in a perfect combination of trans-genre morphing between rock, hip hop and something reminiscent of techno/ scratching, to appeal to the widest possible mass consumer group between the ages of approximately 12-25 years old, Linkin Park time and time again manage to produce a sound so engineered its hard to imagine any authentic instrumentals ever went into the tracks. Now I’m not even being close to critical at this point, for I have to admit that the marketing scheme behind the release of perfectly to a mass audience is pure genius. Having read the readings by Sandywell and Beer, the concept arose in my mind that what is problematic is defining genre and identifying it’s fixed points rather than to view music as a progressive movement that naturally does pander towards hybridization. Indeed one of Linkin Park’s albums was called exactly that, The Hybrid Theory. Perhaps to resist the merging of organic sound and technologically induced mixing is some form of old-school loyalty towards the days of live performance and garage bands I hold so dear to my heart. Of course resistance is futile, for the horizontal promotion of one text to many media formats (Music video, use in film and television, censorship, remixing, parody and armature sampling online) would eventually warrant a change in the actual text itself. Trans-morphing is to music as collages are to fine art; its validation is in its mere presence though for music it’s through the fusion of a team of expert audio engineers and marketing moguls that craft the art.
Come on Yolanda what's Fonzie like?
This music video directed by Spike Jonze for Weezer portrays the band performing at Arnold’s Drive-In diner from the popular ‘70s television show Happy Days. The first time I saw this video clip was when I was exploring the CD for Windows 95 in 1996. The striking thing about this music video is in the way it appropriates footage from the original show and splices it with contemporary footage of the band playing with a cameo appearance by Al Molinaro (the owner of the diner in the show) for good measure. This music video signals for me the demise of hipster culture at the hands of MTV.
The music video now has become a vehicle for marketers and big money congolomerates seeking to capitalise on new trends and essentially make a buck. Dieckmann summarises MTV’s behaviour as survival through change, and change it has, from once only depicting white rock acts now every second music video is black and of an urban music genre. I think this change can be understood in the context of Weezer’s more recent music video for the song “Beverly Hills”. The video was shot in the Playboy Mansion with Hugh Hefner himself making a camero appearance in the beginning of the clip. “Beverly Hills” can be read as sarcastic in an obvious way, and this new style is leaps and bounds from the irony laced videos of Weezer’s past material.
I think that this is strongly indicitive of MTV’s move to support it’s new favourite child in hip-hop and older bands like Weezer attempting to comment on their new position as the middle child of this new music generation. With lyrics like “truth is, it’s something that you’re born into and I just don’t belong” the bands obvious acknowledgement of the change in times reflects MTVs move to representing a narrow demographic of a teen-and-twentysomething audience who are less interested in the music and instead want programming about lifestyle, fashion, and relationships.
Unfortunately clips like Jonze’s “Buddy Holly” are no longer profitable in this world where hipsters have been relegated to the sidelines, these aristocrats of taste for our generation once acted as guardians of pop-culture but now the thick-rimmed glasses and sweater vests are lifestyle totems no longer relevant to todays “blinged” out youth.
Sampling or stealing?
Using samples from other artists songs or other popular media is common practice in many genres of music but when does borrowing turn into stealing? Is it used as a homage? Or, is it trying to cash in on this other persons work and ideas? The lecture on Wednesday brought to mind a story I read about the popular producer Timbaland and a beat he created for Nelly Furtado. The track is called 'Do it' and has a very distinctive synth back track. The problem was that track had been written by a Finnish musician who had won awards in his home country and recieved no royalties for the unauthorised use of his work in the commercially succesful Nelly track. Timbaland claims that by adding more drum tracks and other instruments including lyrics that it was fair use. How many struggling artists are ripped off by larger stars who have the financial backing to beat any lawsuits?
Two years on and Janne Suni has not seen a cent for his work.
Check this youtube video and decide for yourself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2JjPFd7Jr8
Two years on and Janne Suni has not seen a cent for his work.
Check this youtube video and decide for yourself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2JjPFd7Jr8
Farewell New Zealnd Music MOnth
New Zealand music month has come and and now unfortunately it is drawing to a close. We have been lucky enough to over indulge in our local music, but for all our artists and also us as a public, what has it meant for our music industry. To me New Zealand Music Month is a show case of everything that is New Zealand music, it parades it through means of radio, television and live concerts. It is important as new zealand musics airplay is considerably higher and a lot more emphasis and recognition is given to the artists. I find it is a very important part of New Zealand and a strong identification to our identity and what we and our industry have achieved.
Radio and television are the prominent ways of getting the music out there, and even creating special oppertunities to do their bit in sending the message. I was so pleased that everytime i hopped in my car a new zealand artist would be playing. This is what New Zealand music month does, it hightens the amount of music playing on air and puts a lot more awareness out there to the public. Every station or channel has its own unique way of contributing to this awareness. Every year ZM creates a special segment in their night show called ZM Live Lounged. This consists of having a band play, it being recorded live and then played on ZM and also sold on The ITunes store (a great way of intergrating downloads to New Zealand music month i think). It is recorded at the great York Street studios in Auckland, one of New Zealands most etablished and prestigious studios, infront of a live audience, yes you can even hear th applause on ITunes. It featured artists such as The Feelers, 48 May, Good Night Nurse, Blindspot and Opshop. ZM also incorporated many of the newer artists such as Annabel Fay and The Mint Chicks. Although this is only one of many examples that various radio stations play it just goes to show that most New Zealand companies are more than happy to support new zealand music month.
I am lucky to say that I and all Aucklanders are very privledged in the fact that most major record companies are based here. We are able to enjoy more concerts and a wider variety of artists, which ever flavour we choose to try out. Our music holds a part of our culture, apart of New Zealand that we can show to the world and wear proudly. New Zealand music should be treasured and appreciated, we sould help our artists with whatever we can, to me this strongly means purchasing an album instead of downloading it or dubbing it off a friends CD. We are a small nation, so it is important that everyone plays a part, no matter how big or how small, as long as you show it by giving back to the industry. Its our music, lets keep it coming.
Radio and television are the prominent ways of getting the music out there, and even creating special oppertunities to do their bit in sending the message. I was so pleased that everytime i hopped in my car a new zealand artist would be playing. This is what New Zealand music month does, it hightens the amount of music playing on air and puts a lot more awareness out there to the public. Every station or channel has its own unique way of contributing to this awareness. Every year ZM creates a special segment in their night show called ZM Live Lounged. This consists of having a band play, it being recorded live and then played on ZM and also sold on The ITunes store (a great way of intergrating downloads to New Zealand music month i think). It is recorded at the great York Street studios in Auckland, one of New Zealands most etablished and prestigious studios, infront of a live audience, yes you can even hear th applause on ITunes. It featured artists such as The Feelers, 48 May, Good Night Nurse, Blindspot and Opshop. ZM also incorporated many of the newer artists such as Annabel Fay and The Mint Chicks. Although this is only one of many examples that various radio stations play it just goes to show that most New Zealand companies are more than happy to support new zealand music month.
I am lucky to say that I and all Aucklanders are very privledged in the fact that most major record companies are based here. We are able to enjoy more concerts and a wider variety of artists, which ever flavour we choose to try out. Our music holds a part of our culture, apart of New Zealand that we can show to the world and wear proudly. New Zealand music should be treasured and appreciated, we sould help our artists with whatever we can, to me this strongly means purchasing an album instead of downloading it or dubbing it off a friends CD. We are a small nation, so it is important that everyone plays a part, no matter how big or how small, as long as you show it by giving back to the industry. Its our music, lets keep it coming.
Music in Movie Trailers
When Nabeel showed us the clip of The Shining which was edited to look/sound like a family film instead of a horror one, I began to think about the use of music in trailers. As many of us have discussed here, a film's soundtrack often just seems like "background music" but in actual fact, if done right, not only complements (and sometimes even improves) the storyline, but also has a great impact on how the film is interpreted.
That being said, I feel that as important as it is to pick the right tracks for a film's soundtrack or to pick the right composer that will further enhance a film with a fitting score, it is even MORE important to pick the right songs/score for the film's trailer. I know that there are a lot of people who do not pay attention to trailers or are not easily swayed by them, but there are also a significant number of others (admittedly I'm in this category) that get easily influenced by them instead.
Whether it is consciously or unconsciously, the power of the trailer does exist. If a trailer is bad, it is most likely that you will equate this to the movie being equally as bad. Of course, the montage of shots selected to represent the film and undoubtedly to tease the audience coupled with very clever editing definitely predominantly determines how good a trailer is. However, another dimension to this is definitely the music that is chosen to accompany these series of images.
Working at the movies means I get to watch countless of trailers all the time. Sadly I have a very shocking memory and so most of them just fleet through my mind. However, there was one trailer that has stuck in my mind up to this day. It is definitely one of my favorites and in my humble opinion, one of the best and most cleverly constructed trailers out there.
The trailer I'm referring to is the teaser for Red Eye. The clip is 1 minute and 46 seconds long but what makes it unique is the fact that you only find out what the film is really about in the last 27 seconds. For that first minute and 19 seconds, the trailer is set up to look like a romantic chick flick-type comedy. The cleverly selected scenes from the film is perfectly juxtaposed with the music; it successfully manages to give the audience a false sense of knowledge about what this film is about.
The point where the audience are finally clued in to what the actual premise of the film is, the mood/feel of the trailer does a total 360 - it's brilliant. At the end of it - and this, in my opinion, is a mark of a good trailer - it left you wanting more and thus, most likely encouraging you to want to watch the film when it releases.
Anyway here's the trailer:
And of course, thanks to technology and YouTube, you can find many different versions of this trailer. I came across two which I thought were really interesting as they each gave the film a different "feel" to it. The first one, like that The Shining clip that Nabeel showed in class, totally changed the film's genre by painting it out to look like a romance film. The second one on the other hand, was not ambiguous at all but marketed the film as a straight suspense/thriller film.
It is very interesting to compare these two "fan"-made videos vs the original teaser trailer. The images used in the two were pretty much the same as the ones used in the original but it's incredible how just changing the music - and of course some of the editing too - can change the way you would think about the film and it's story.
As I said - power of the trailer, folks. And even more importantly, the power of music on screen ;)
That being said, I feel that as important as it is to pick the right tracks for a film's soundtrack or to pick the right composer that will further enhance a film with a fitting score, it is even MORE important to pick the right songs/score for the film's trailer. I know that there are a lot of people who do not pay attention to trailers or are not easily swayed by them, but there are also a significant number of others (admittedly I'm in this category) that get easily influenced by them instead.
Whether it is consciously or unconsciously, the power of the trailer does exist. If a trailer is bad, it is most likely that you will equate this to the movie being equally as bad. Of course, the montage of shots selected to represent the film and undoubtedly to tease the audience coupled with very clever editing definitely predominantly determines how good a trailer is. However, another dimension to this is definitely the music that is chosen to accompany these series of images.
Working at the movies means I get to watch countless of trailers all the time. Sadly I have a very shocking memory and so most of them just fleet through my mind. However, there was one trailer that has stuck in my mind up to this day. It is definitely one of my favorites and in my humble opinion, one of the best and most cleverly constructed trailers out there.
The trailer I'm referring to is the teaser for Red Eye. The clip is 1 minute and 46 seconds long but what makes it unique is the fact that you only find out what the film is really about in the last 27 seconds. For that first minute and 19 seconds, the trailer is set up to look like a romantic chick flick-type comedy. The cleverly selected scenes from the film is perfectly juxtaposed with the music; it successfully manages to give the audience a false sense of knowledge about what this film is about.
The point where the audience are finally clued in to what the actual premise of the film is, the mood/feel of the trailer does a total 360 - it's brilliant. At the end of it - and this, in my opinion, is a mark of a good trailer - it left you wanting more and thus, most likely encouraging you to want to watch the film when it releases.
Anyway here's the trailer:
And of course, thanks to technology and YouTube, you can find many different versions of this trailer. I came across two which I thought were really interesting as they each gave the film a different "feel" to it. The first one, like that The Shining clip that Nabeel showed in class, totally changed the film's genre by painting it out to look like a romance film. The second one on the other hand, was not ambiguous at all but marketed the film as a straight suspense/thriller film.
It is very interesting to compare these two "fan"-made videos vs the original teaser trailer. The images used in the two were pretty much the same as the ones used in the original but it's incredible how just changing the music - and of course some of the editing too - can change the way you would think about the film and it's story.
As I said - power of the trailer, folks. And even more importantly, the power of music on screen ;)
Advertisement on music video
The initial idea of making a music video was for promoting the song. But now, this idea has been extended to a deeper meaning, that is a cross-promotion between companies, in particular car and fashion companies, and pop stars. In today’s music video especially in Hip-hop and R&B genre, it is easy to observe company’s products are dressed or used by stars, and most of those products have a company’s logo on it which can tell audience what brand it is. Hyper-materialism, for both of female and male singers, they always show that how luxury their life are in the video or even through the lyrics. Brands like Louis Vuitton, CD, Gucci, appear frequently on music video with their newest products, and director would put a close-up shot on the logo in order to give more information about the product to audience. So that, audience will think that product is cool or fashionable and consider to buy it.
On the other hand, from pop star’s aspect, they willing to accept the sponsorship from a international company, because they also can sell their images to that company. Pop star sometimes are the best model for a company to show their products, because more people know them rather than any other models. In one way, pop stars can make themselves always fashionable; but also, they can sell their images to companies and help them to promote goods.
In sum, music video in the present day has more commercial functions than before. For both of record company and fashion company, they cross-promote each other and also receive a double benefits from another.
On the other hand, from pop star’s aspect, they willing to accept the sponsorship from a international company, because they also can sell their images to that company. Pop star sometimes are the best model for a company to show their products, because more people know them rather than any other models. In one way, pop stars can make themselves always fashionable; but also, they can sell their images to companies and help them to promote goods.
In sum, music video in the present day has more commercial functions than before. For both of record company and fashion company, they cross-promote each other and also receive a double benefits from another.
Pandora's box...re-opened?
So, a few weeks ago my flatmate brought to my attention an Internet phenomenon called Pandora. Basically it's licensed by the Music Genome project and is a version of Internet radio that accompanies visuals and music videos of unknown and scarcely found bands. How it works is you type in an artist, say Jack Johnson, and Pandora generates a play list of "If you like Jack Johnson...you will definitely like..." artists along with information about them. Unfortunately, when I went to the site to check it out recently it is now banned from being reproduced outside the U.S., but will hopefully come back to NZ in the near future. Anyway, this reminds me of several other Internet sites that work to incorporate the inclusion of music and film. It's not just a blog of website where other 'people' give you advice on what to listen to or what to see. But these sites work to bring lesser known artists to the forefront for real lovers of the medium; those dedicated to discovering untapped resources. I'm always surprised the things that the Internet hides and I'm amazed at some of the finds that are out there waiting to be discovered, untapped resources themselves.
The Politicisation of Lyrics
After reading an earlier post by KurtB about the political messages in song lyrics, I began to think about the amount of politically driven music that has started re-appearing since the Bush administration’s ‘crusade’ against terrorists. For me, the first song that comes to mind is Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’. Like this song, much of the politically infused material around today focuses on criticising the American government and the means that they have employed to not only carry out, but also justify the apparent ‘War on Terrorism’. ‘American Idiot’ for instance, explicitly attacks America and the way it has used the media to create propaganda, and ‘spin’ the situation of national insecurity that appeared after 9/11, and consequent events. Some of the lyrics include, “One nation controlled by the media,” and ‘The subliminal, my fuck America’.
Music, as it has always been, is an effective way to propagate political messages. It reaches out to and communicates with the masses in a way that is difficult to be entirely controlled by the ‘power bloc’. The integration of political messages seems to be a means of venting frustration against those in power and the decisions that have been made by them; Green Day’s song ‘American Idiot’ is a current example of this political expression through music.
~ Shalinie ~
Music, as it has always been, is an effective way to propagate political messages. It reaches out to and communicates with the masses in a way that is difficult to be entirely controlled by the ‘power bloc’. The integration of political messages seems to be a means of venting frustration against those in power and the decisions that have been made by them; Green Day’s song ‘American Idiot’ is a current example of this political expression through music.
~ Shalinie ~
Musical Underdog - The DJ
To many a DJ is considered not to be a musician. Fans of Rock, Jazz, Blues, etc. which styles of music are constructed with the use of musical instruments such as guitars, drums, etc. sometimes have the view that digitised beats made by a computer then stuck together has little muscianship. I disagree with this as digital music is based on rythym and beat matching just like that of a drummer. A DJ no matter what style of music they are mixing, matches beat patterns and rythym.
I have had many an arguement with people saying that a DJ is not a musician because they are just playing other peoples music. This maybe true, but what a DJ does is re-master tracks and use different elements within a song to create a new fused tune. The Movie It's All Gone Pete Tong demonstrates the musicianship of a good DJ. It is based on the true story of Frankie Wilde a notorious DJ from the United Kingdom who went deaf. With hearing obviously being the main sense used for DJing, Wilde teaches himself how to instead feel the music through vibrations and Djs based on this. This shows that a DJ is not just someone playing others tunes over and over, but a musician that works with rythym and beats to produce different versions of songs or even creating a new tune.
I have had many an arguement with people saying that a DJ is not a musician because they are just playing other peoples music. This maybe true, but what a DJ does is re-master tracks and use different elements within a song to create a new fused tune. The Movie It's All Gone Pete Tong demonstrates the musicianship of a good DJ. It is based on the true story of Frankie Wilde a notorious DJ from the United Kingdom who went deaf. With hearing obviously being the main sense used for DJing, Wilde teaches himself how to instead feel the music through vibrations and Djs based on this. This shows that a DJ is not just someone playing others tunes over and over, but a musician that works with rythym and beats to produce different versions of songs or even creating a new tune.
Lauryn Hill Unplugged: a testimonial?
3 years after the release of a debut album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”, that received five Grammy Awards; Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album (which was a new record for women in the industry), Lauryn Hill appeared on MTV Unplugged with selected number of fans as the audience. Hill’s special Unplugged, yet to be remembered the most memorable performance I have ever seen on a television, was done with a single guitar (a classic guitar I can tell) played by Hill herself. Apart from her soulful vocal, the whole show was more like a testimonial of Hill, talking about her personal life with her Christian perspective of seeing the world. The occasional break down in tears, a stripped-down, almost minimalist style of outlook of Hill made me empathise with her more deep and therefore her music. It seems to me that Hill's unveiling performance embraced much power in moving the heart of the audience, which made her special MTV unplugged more authentic.
Here is one of the clip from Lauryn Hill's MTV Unplugged.
Here is one of the clip from Lauryn Hill's MTV Unplugged.
music and youth identity
The concept of conspicuous consumption was raised in lectures in relation to Hip Hop , but I believe its relevance extends to nearly all youth oriented music movements. People in their teens and twenties are very occupied with identity. Although this came as no surprise, this observation was stated in a lecture for another paper I'm doing. With a whole generation so consumed with trying to place themselves in society, understand their relationship to the rest of the world, and at the same time often fearing complete individuality/difference; it is no wonder that a sort of cult culture around music has been embraced by young people for decades. These music movements are not just about sound, they can dictate friends, clothing, attitude, social activities and more. By choosing a music preference you can be choosing a whole life style. I say can because of coarse not all music taste leads to lifestyle dictation. I myself never 'belonged' to a music group as such. However I did always feel that this was almost an inadequacy of mine as a teenager. Aren't all teenagers meant to be in love with certain bands, have their posters on their bedroom walls, by the new CD on the first day of its release, line up for concert tickets for hours, and so on. My friends did all this and the fact that I didn't made me feel like I was a bit less of a 'real' teenager. It also seemed like I was missing out on the easy option of social navigation. Music can be an easy way to socially place yourself. If you like Hip Hop, you can buy the CDs, wear the Hip Hop encoded clothes, and through this you know that you're most likely be friends with other people just like you. It seemed like a way of having social security, a sure way of joining a team, almost buying an identity. I wonder how many young people are actually extremely passionate about their music genre of choice and how many are just buying the clothes, CDs etc, as a way of categorizing themselves? Of coarse young people are also going through a highly emotional and hormonal period of their lives so it is also understandable that there is a particular affinity with emotionally charged music at this time.
Advertisement on Mobile Phone
Technically, mobile phone is not a new media form to the public any more. After over 10years development, the technology of mobile phone has already been mature. As a consequence, the mobile phone advertisement has already become a new and effective method to promote the product to the public. Firstly, with the powerful technique support, mobile phone is able to receive not only literal advertisement but also picture advertisement. Moreover, you can receive video clips through the Bluetooth device. Most of forms of advertising can be found on the cell phone platform. For example, Vodafone always send lots of TXTs to its users in order to propagandize its new special plan. (I think I am not the only one who got those TXTs.) Otherwise, in some commercial promotion campaigns, the sponsor will set several Bluetooth signal emitter. Every customer nearby will receive relevant materials through their cell phones. Secondly, compare with the audiences of television and radio, cell phone user is a comparatively passive group. They don’t have as many choices as conventional media reception. Switching the Bluetooth device on or off, the cell phone users can receive either everything or nothing. There is no filter in cell phone advertising. Obviously, this is an advantage that the company can use in the advertising. Because almost every cell phone user who leaves its Bluetooth device on can receive the advertisement from the company. With the development of 3G technology, I believe that several years later, the impact of mobile phone advertising will be stronger than radio’s, even TV’s.
Jxu063
Jxu063
DJing and the mutation of prerecorded material
Prerecorded music is more often than not presented in the form of an unequivocal structure. It is distinctly separated song by song. Occasionally (within the containment of an album) the end of one song will flow onto the beginning of the next. But regardless, each song is an unchanging form with a start and an end.
In DJ sets however, music ceases to be stuck in its structure. DJs morph prerecorded material, not only into new hybrids of generic categories, but also into new structural forms. Turntables, mixers and synthesizers allow music to be amalgamated into one whole musical occurrence. While you may recognize samples from a song, they will be spliced and intertwined with other music.
At the same time that DJs merge disparate elements together, each of these elements are transfigured and adapted into new audio contexts. And in doing so, previously static material becomes dynamic. As a result the same spontaneity and uniqueness of traditional instrumental performances can arise from the mutation of mass-produced articles.
In DJ sets however, music ceases to be stuck in its structure. DJs morph prerecorded material, not only into new hybrids of generic categories, but also into new structural forms. Turntables, mixers and synthesizers allow music to be amalgamated into one whole musical occurrence. While you may recognize samples from a song, they will be spliced and intertwined with other music.
At the same time that DJs merge disparate elements together, each of these elements are transfigured and adapted into new audio contexts. And in doing so, previously static material becomes dynamic. As a result the same spontaneity and uniqueness of traditional instrumental performances can arise from the mutation of mass-produced articles.
Fact or Fiction?
While I was browsing around Real Groovy Records I noticed that they had a special edition of Oliver Stone's The Doors film for sale really cheap. Remembering how much I enjoyed the movie when I saw it years ago and knowing how much I love the Doors' music, I just had to purchase it. When I got home it instantly became deposited in the DVD player and I again really enjoyed the film. However, it got me thinking about how this could be a rather one sided view or fabricated story of the life of Jim Morrison. As I watched the special features it was mentioned that Oliver Stone had interviewed many people that knew Jim Morrison and that the Doors band members John Densmore, Ray Manzarek and and Robby Krieger were 'technical advisors' on the film. However, the actual historical accuracy may have been blurred by Oliver Stone's artistic view of the film. In the documentary The Road Of Excess certain characters such as Patricia Kennealy expressed themselves as being upset by the representation of Jim Morrison and the historical inaccuracy. I have also discovered that Ray Manzarek has written a novel in which he curses Oliver Stone for mis-representing the lead singer of the band. I think it just goes to show that even though some films are meant to be the true story of an artists life it is still a work of fiction. Therefore, it still a work of the director's imagination and is not neccessarily based on fact.
The Aussies have landed
With little fanfare Australian owned mega store of music JB-Hi Fi opened its first New Zealand store in May earlier this year. Of the two occasions that I’ve set foot in the modest sized store near Burger King on Queen St, there has been a fair bit of activity inside. And why is this store proving popular despite little discernable advertising that such a new overseas chain would usually herald? The answer is simple; crates of discounted CDs, DVDs and games, flat screen TVs and music loud enough to spill onto the street.
Apparently the bargaining power of Australia’s largest music store brings with low prices, and that can’t be denied. At a time when the market for CDs is supposedly in decline, it seems an odd time to enter this new market. Yet perhaps this new store is simply a morphing that the CD store as we know it is going through. JB-Hi Fi has the concrete floors and range of Real Groovy yet the polished appearance of Sounds or ECM. Included are the annoying intercom interruptions that cut off the music to request whomever to whichever service desk.
JB-Hi Fi seems to be aiming decidedly at the middle of the road. Its not as far up Queen St. as Real Groovy and doesn’t play alternative music over the speakers that often scares off the musically insecure or unadventurous. Though I am and always will be a Real Groovy fan, offering more music at lower prices can only be a positive, and a place that has Led Zeppelin posters on their walls can’t be all that bad.
Apparently the bargaining power of Australia’s largest music store brings with low prices, and that can’t be denied. At a time when the market for CDs is supposedly in decline, it seems an odd time to enter this new market. Yet perhaps this new store is simply a morphing that the CD store as we know it is going through. JB-Hi Fi has the concrete floors and range of Real Groovy yet the polished appearance of Sounds or ECM. Included are the annoying intercom interruptions that cut off the music to request whomever to whichever service desk.
JB-Hi Fi seems to be aiming decidedly at the middle of the road. Its not as far up Queen St. as Real Groovy and doesn’t play alternative music over the speakers that often scares off the musically insecure or unadventurous. Though I am and always will be a Real Groovy fan, offering more music at lower prices can only be a positive, and a place that has Led Zeppelin posters on their walls can’t be all that bad.
Beat Street
The culture of hip hop is broken down in to four elements – graffiti, break-dancing, DJing and MCing/rapping. A film which is interested in representing an authentic visualization of this culture is
This film also plays tribute to the hip hop activists of the 1980s such as The Treacherous Three, The System, Rock Steady Crew, Soul Sonic Force and Shango, the Magnificent Force, New York City Breakers, Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa and also the film mentions starters in the hip hop culture such as Phase II Lonny Wood. He was the first graffiti artist to gain exposure and notoriety in
Hip Hop and Consuming Culture
In the Hip Hop lecture, Nabeel talked about several elements of Hip Hop culture. One of these elements mentioned was conspicuous consumption. In terms of fashion, Hip Hop style is casual but full of accessories. Caps, bandannas and the blings of course. Many male Hip Hop stars wear excessive amount of blings in their music videos. Recent Hip Hop music videos have been a popular way for top brands to market their products. Dolce & Gabbana sun glasses have been shot in close-ups in many popular Hip Hop music videos such as “Check On It” – Beyonce and “I’m a Flirt” – R. Kelly. They were shot in close-ups on purposes to advertise for Dolce & Gabbana. Not only the Hip Hop stars are obsessed with conspicuous consumption, they are trying to get all the fans to do the same by promoting all sorts of products for top brands. I think Hip Hop is becoming too commercialized, especially after the introduction of music videos. People used to love the music and love dancing to it. Now days, there are less Hip Hop music videos featuring brilliant dance moves. Instead, most Hip Hop music videos are set in a club featuring women doing erotic dancing or them dancing around male singers who have Dolce & Gabbana glasses on. They are almost like ads now. There aren’t many dance moves to watch or learn from Hip Hop music videos, therefore, people probably start to watch them for fashion tips. Nabeel said Hip Hop is probably one of the most important cultural movement in the last century, well probably one of the most influential fashion icon too.
Is it all the same?
Through exploring stylistic morphing, I think it’s important to note the way in which the history and evolution of musical genres has been affected by this process throughout time. Anyone with a basic knowledge of music would know that certain decades have given birth to particular genres of music; such as Soul’s association with the 1950’s or the emergence of Punk Rock in the 1970’s. Today however, the distinction of genres is not so straightforward, as bands and musicians incorporate different musical influences into what they produce. Needless to say, as the lines between genres are continually blurred, music is substantially harder to classify into the ‘pure’ models which existed in the past. As is seen within School of Rock when Jack Black‘s character teaches his class about musical history; the development of genres has been an evolutionary process throughout time; with each new emerging genre drawing inspiration from a previous other.
Essentially, the connections which can be made between traditionally contrasting genres are plentiful, which leads me to believe that the world of music is not so diverse after all and increasingly less so in today’s musically saturated environment.
Essentially, the connections which can be made between traditionally contrasting genres are plentiful, which leads me to believe that the world of music is not so diverse after all and increasingly less so in today’s musically saturated environment.
Cultural Differences in TV Show Style
Hi there. I caught my Mum watching one of those Korean dramas, and it got me thinking about show structure and music use. It seems like most of the TV shows in Japan and Korea are run on a set number of episodes ‘mini-series’ style. For example, nearly all of their popular shows have definite story arcs that end in 10 episodes or 20 or so episodes. Most of them run for one season, then end. Furthermore, they hardly ever introduce new characters or kill off central characters. Subplots are there to support the main storyline and separate ‘short arcs’ do not run through indefinitely. It seems to me like their idea of the TV show is more similar to a long version of a mini-series or a made for TV movie, during which the characters face dramatic changes, while the American TV show focuses on an ‘equilibrium’ of stability through many years, through which the characters show gradual development. Individual plotlines are introduced and put in the foreground, while the major character arc is put off until the show is cancelled and they have to wrap it all up.
This brings me to the issue of music use. Upon finding the soundtrack for Winter Sonata, a popular Korean drama a few years ago, I discovered that the entire show used a soundtrack of around 5-7 cues. There were three or four main themes, one for each of the central characters. Then in each episode, during the ‘sad introspective moments’ or the ‘pre-5th act low’, the same song would play. It baffles me how the same song and can be used 20 times in a row and still have emotional resonance. But having watched a few episodes now and then, I must admit, it works. Looking at American shows, they instead try to build a sense of musical identity through genre. For example, singer-songwriter ‘acoustic pop’ may be frequently associated with one character, but not a specific song.
My main point is that, it seems in recent years the two worlds have finally come together. American shows are generally ‘web-of-life’, and while there is one protagonist, the show generally revolves around a set group of people who each fill their ‘role’ on the show, i.e. comic relief, the friend, the confidant, the annoying guy, etc. In recent years however, we’ve seen the character structure move towards a ‘relationship based’ outline. In many Korean shows, they use the ‘Fab Four’ formula, that is, a central quartet of characters whose relationships with one another hold the show together. Shows like Roswell and The O.C. have picked up on this dynamic. In The O.C., the songs Halleluyah and Forever Young are played numerous times in a fashion similar to Korean TV shows. Grey’s Anatomy would be a key example – it features the usual set of characters like most American shows, but still implements the Fab Four formula – Meredith-Derek-Cristina-Burke. I argue that this is why Chasing Cars was so popular – in this one instance, show creators have managed to create the same response from an American as Korean shows have brought out of their audiences. So the question would be – is the standard vocabulary of music-visuals usage is a language that audiences can pick up on independent of cultural differences?
Dennis
ID: 3977394
This brings me to the issue of music use. Upon finding the soundtrack for Winter Sonata, a popular Korean drama a few years ago, I discovered that the entire show used a soundtrack of around 5-7 cues. There were three or four main themes, one for each of the central characters. Then in each episode, during the ‘sad introspective moments’ or the ‘pre-5th act low’, the same song would play. It baffles me how the same song and can be used 20 times in a row and still have emotional resonance. But having watched a few episodes now and then, I must admit, it works. Looking at American shows, they instead try to build a sense of musical identity through genre. For example, singer-songwriter ‘acoustic pop’ may be frequently associated with one character, but not a specific song.
My main point is that, it seems in recent years the two worlds have finally come together. American shows are generally ‘web-of-life’, and while there is one protagonist, the show generally revolves around a set group of people who each fill their ‘role’ on the show, i.e. comic relief, the friend, the confidant, the annoying guy, etc. In recent years however, we’ve seen the character structure move towards a ‘relationship based’ outline. In many Korean shows, they use the ‘Fab Four’ formula, that is, a central quartet of characters whose relationships with one another hold the show together. Shows like Roswell and The O.C. have picked up on this dynamic. In The O.C., the songs Halleluyah and Forever Young are played numerous times in a fashion similar to Korean TV shows. Grey’s Anatomy would be a key example – it features the usual set of characters like most American shows, but still implements the Fab Four formula – Meredith-Derek-Cristina-Burke. I argue that this is why Chasing Cars was so popular – in this one instance, show creators have managed to create the same response from an American as Korean shows have brought out of their audiences. So the question would be – is the standard vocabulary of music-visuals usage is a language that audiences can pick up on independent of cultural differences?
Dennis
ID: 3977394
Hip-Hop aesthetics and the Message
Hip Hop iconography and Gangster Rap aesthetics. The socio-political message commercialized.
“The flood of hip-hop videos has produced a disturbing number of visual clichés. Besides the ‘standing on corners’ shot, the medium has endured the ‘times-square shot’ the ‘low-rider convention’ the ‘players party’ the cameo parade, and the ‘abstract chase…” (Light, 138)
Hip Hop has no doubt, left an impression of how strong music video conventions: mise-en-scene, characterization, iconography, and stereotypes can influence MTV. Hip Hop has successfully transcended into the realm of ‘style’ versus ‘genre’. Just as ‘film noir’ is a more of style than it is a genre, the same can be said for hip-hop.
Hip hop or specifically Gangster rap has produced a strong visual accompaniment, than can branch out into different levels. First, aesthetically recognized, ghettoized clichés: diamond grills, gold plated teeth, Jeri-curls, L.A Raiders baseball caps, huge-sneakers, gold chains, bling-bling, ghetto blasters, and 9mm Beretta hand cannons, this is the imagery that encapsulates the character of a gangster rapper.
The gangster character is almost a stock character in films. The visual spectacle of gangster-signifiers can be seen in the grills Nelly wears, Snoop Dogs corn-braids, Ice Cube’ baseball caps, Ice-T’s Jeri-curls, and Busta Rhymes bling-bling diamond jewelry. However, this characterization has progressed from ghettoized gangsters to beautified black men.
Niggers with Attitude (N.W.A), the quintessential gangster-rap group, embraced what Public Enemy has come to term ‘fear of a black planet’. The iconography, in the music video ‘straight out of Compton’ evokes the essential gangster rap aesthetics: auburn brush, abandoned derelict housing projects, and chain mail fences are visual signifiers of gangster, urban jungle, and environments. Poverty is an aesthetic as much as Gangster Rap is a style. However, postmodern gangster acts have become self-aware of the image they project, and have developed on Hip Hop aesthetics, in order to commercialize on gangster-rap. The message on gangster rapper consciousness is not necessarily voiced through the representation they undertake in music film form; music videos may not be suitable to the message gangster rappers are conveying, the medium defeats the purpose.
The trends today exploit genre names to sell products. I work in a video store, and it has become apparent that changing a films genre can change the selling potential of the film. Selling horror films, as thrillers, is significant as connotations of horror are lessened by what the video stores connotes, as a thriller. It is significant to point out, that repackaging a product with a different name can reach a larger audience. Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot have some what changed the aesthetics, and to some extent the message, of what is gangster rap iconography.
Post-modern hip hop aesthetics have themes of industrialization, fake versus real, and an overall anti-gangster aesthetic. Yet, strong gangster rap aesthetics are inherently in these post-modern hip-hop stars. Busta Rhymes diamond grills and clothing suggest a more gangster rap aesthetic than post-modern hip hop aesthetic. The negative move from gangster rap to post-modern hip-hop signals the unavoidable endorsement of product. The glamorization of gangster rap, commercializes on a product that was once considered un-commercial, and not glamorous.
Gangster rap has capitalized on ghetto ethics, and black American culture on films and television shows: ‘Pimp my Ride’, ‘Rap school’, and ‘Your Momma’, most notably on MTV. The T.V shows mentioned, show how the ghetto can be packaged to sell to a pre-dominantly ‘MTV Demographic’; young white males, in their 20’s and 30’s. It is in these so called gangster rap ‘sub-genres’ that have become detrimental to what gangster rap is about in the first place, being the struggle of the young African American man, dealing with violence, sex, and drugs. The message of gangster rap is undoubtedly the struggle of making America aware of issues surrounding the American ghetto. What is to be predicted of the continuation of commercialization of such a message? I mean, you don’t see MTV capitalizing on ‘Save the children’s fund’ by creating television reality shows of starving children in Uganda. On the contrary, what is happening to gangster rap could be the same as creating a television show where ‘who starves themselves first’ is awarded king of starving children in the Bronx. Commercialization is an atrocity to the socio-political message gangster rap is trying to convey.
On the contrary, gangster rap has been criticized for its perpetual portrayal of gang ethics: drugs, violence, and sex. The film CB4 notably satirizes N.W.A’s music video ‘Straight out of Compton’ with its own parody ‘Straight out of low-cash’. CB4 deconstructs gangster iconography, which is definitively demonstrated in ‘straight out of Compton’, by presenting as a myth constructed to sell gangster rap visually. In the film, the lives of the CB4 band do not conform to gangster characterizations; ex-con, alcoholic, drug-dealing, thug. The film also exploits the ridiculous nature of gangster rap aesthetics and ethics. On the contrary, they are young, middle class, black men who work in degrading occupations such as a gay-sex phone service. The appearance overshadows the reality of the upbringing of a gangster star, which is not glamorous, nor gangster.
The most significant message CB4 conveys is that they group change their image from the conservative RUN DMC costumes to NWA costumes, representing a commercial gangster rap group. Pragmatically, gangster rap falls into the tap of becoming stereotypical. Racial stereotypes in music videos are what Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, and Kanye West have been trying to subvert. Gangster rap has become a negative outlook on young African Americans. In spite of this negative representation, it is apparent that successful hip-hop acts need to follow strict gangster conventions.
This clip demonstrates gangster rap aesthetics I am talking about; the iconography, mise-en-scene, act as signifiers of gangster rap. N.W.A ‘Straight out of Compton’
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EYR-zNG-OJ4
This clip shows the satirical value, and recognizes these signifiers as gangster rap aesthetics. CB4 ‘Straight out LoCash’
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8kUgL67eZsY
Robbie Williams has tried to dive into the U.S market for years. He has incorporated hip-hop lyrics in ‘Rock DJ’ and ‘Let me entertain you’ unsuccessfully to reach the same demo-graphic audience of gangster rap. Williams marketing campaign is not successful because he is a white British pop act using hip-hop ‘type’ lyrics but because the music video does not withstand the expectations of a U.S audience expectation of gangster-rap aesthetics and hip-hop lyrics. The aesthetics and the content of the lyrics is what makes hip-hop what it is today.
Gangster rap can be positive and negative in creating sub-genre films, television shows, and music videos. However, the lesson-to-be-learnt from all this, is that, Gangster rap images are strongly influential on a sub-conscious level of television shows portraying the ghettoisation of gangster rap videos. The commercial aspect emphasized negative stereotypes, and proves that glamorizing gangsters is just a politically correct tool for deconstructing gangster-rap ethics; ‘do it yourself’ and ‘F%&^k the system’. Television has reached a wider audience for gangster-rap by repackaging it as hip-hop. However it is detrimental to the message of being fight the system, it seems gangster rap is conforming to the system, by being commercial. In the words of Public Enemy, ‘…we got to fight the power that be, fight the power!’
Bibliography:
Light, Allan. The Vibe History of Hip Hop. New York: three Rivers Press, 1999.
Tamara Davis, CB4, 1993.
N.W.A- ‘Straight out of Compton’ 1988.
Robbie Williams- ‘Rock DJ’ 1999. ‘Let me entertain you’ 1998.
Public Enemy- ‘Fight the Power’ 1989.
N.W.A – ‘Straight out of Compton’ 1988 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=EYR-zNG-OJ4)
CB4 – ‘Straight out of low-cash’ 1993 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=8kUgL67eZsY)
The requisite American Idol post...
Last night I happened to watch bits and pieces of the second to last episode of American Idol and I decided to check out the finale tonight despite not having followed the series so far. If there is one thing to be said about the Idol franchise it is definitely that the Americans certainly know how to do it the best. Now having just completed it's sixth season with ratings still consistently in the 20 millions in the States and reaching 30 million for the finale alone it is clear that American Idol works like a well oiled machine and is a veritable commercial giant in it's own right, this can been seen most prevalently through it's American time slot - so much so that competing networks will organise their own schedules around the show to lessen the blow to their network ratings. Add to this vertical and horizontal integration through brand marketed products, the various spin-off series, the sponsorship from major conglomerates - notably Coca-Cola and Ford Motor Company- and it is clear that American Idol has perfected a formula which gives it market viability and most especially a type of credibility which other Idol franchises have not managed to break into quite so successfully. Look no further than New Zealand Idol to see an example of this.
I have to wonder after watching the entertainment spectacle that was the finale just how much this show can be called "reality television" and furthermore how is it that what is essentially a glorified singing or talent contest can become such a huge phenomenon? I barely remember watching the first season of AI but I'm pretty sure that even back then the show wasn't quite as star studded as it was tonight - in the audience were TV celebrities ranging from Terri Hatcher to Jerry Springer, former Idol contestants such as Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson and Music mogul Clive Davis just to name a few. In conjunction with that there were major contemporary pop acts such as Gwen Stefani and Green Day as well as performances by musical legends from days gone by such as Tony Bennett, Gladys Night, Bette Midler and Smokey Robinson. It would seem that the presence of these "stars" lends a type of credibility to AI that only Hollywood is really capable of. Not to mention that the judges, host, former winners and contestants have all become celebrities in their own rights as well. Considering that the last two episodes are shot in the Kodak Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards, it seems fair to say that the image projected by AI is about as far removed from reality as one can possibly get.
The few elements of possible "reality" tonight consisted of Golden Idol awards which were given to some of the crazier would-be contestants that tried out for the show. However, even these people seemed so far removed from normal, and they were arguably the comic relief of the show, that it would be very hard to truly say that they had any element of reality attached to them in the first place. In a bid to show the charitable side of AI this season 'Idol Gives Back' was used as a means to fundraise for children living in extreme poverty in Africa and America and was represented by an African Children's choir tonight. Perhaps the reminder of such a serious issue in the world could add weight to some aspect of reality but it was a very small part of what was truly a constructed television spectacle and when you take into account the corporate and commercial swing of the show there seems to be conflicting messages - especially when the final two contestants are given brand new mustangs.
Finally, it would seem that the musical aspect of the show is as much a commercial vehicle as the images being presented to us of the various entertainers and contestants. The songs sung by idol hopefuls tend to be mainstream pop songs from today as well as in the past and musical mentors such as Jennifer Lopez, Diana Ross or Tony Bennett appeared on episodes to help the contestants with their performances. It would seem that the ultimate marketing device for the music industry has been achieved by something which would at first have been looked down upon and stigmatized. Certain songs may regain popular appeal or contemporary songs could get even more exposure which naturally equates to more money and the musical mentors themselves are able to capitalize on their appearances - through exposure and promotion of their own music.
At the end of it all once the Idol has been named it can be seen that an illusion of reality has been perpetuated through the Hollywood dream factory - all this could be yours ... IF you have the talent, If you have the look, IF you have star potential, IF you are American, IF you can even get the chance to try out in the first place. American Idol may not have any true aspects of reality in its format but it has achieved what other reality TV shows haven't been able to - sustainability, market viability, audience appeal, longevity and Hollywood's stamp of approval. At the end of the day the AI formula of mixing music and image through "reality television" really does seem to work and it wouldn't appear that it is going to end anytime soon.
I have to wonder after watching the entertainment spectacle that was the finale just how much this show can be called "reality television" and furthermore how is it that what is essentially a glorified singing or talent contest can become such a huge phenomenon? I barely remember watching the first season of AI but I'm pretty sure that even back then the show wasn't quite as star studded as it was tonight - in the audience were TV celebrities ranging from Terri Hatcher to Jerry Springer, former Idol contestants such as Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson and Music mogul Clive Davis just to name a few. In conjunction with that there were major contemporary pop acts such as Gwen Stefani and Green Day as well as performances by musical legends from days gone by such as Tony Bennett, Gladys Night, Bette Midler and Smokey Robinson. It would seem that the presence of these "stars" lends a type of credibility to AI that only Hollywood is really capable of. Not to mention that the judges, host, former winners and contestants have all become celebrities in their own rights as well. Considering that the last two episodes are shot in the Kodak Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards, it seems fair to say that the image projected by AI is about as far removed from reality as one can possibly get.
The few elements of possible "reality" tonight consisted of Golden Idol awards which were given to some of the crazier would-be contestants that tried out for the show. However, even these people seemed so far removed from normal, and they were arguably the comic relief of the show, that it would be very hard to truly say that they had any element of reality attached to them in the first place. In a bid to show the charitable side of AI this season 'Idol Gives Back' was used as a means to fundraise for children living in extreme poverty in Africa and America and was represented by an African Children's choir tonight. Perhaps the reminder of such a serious issue in the world could add weight to some aspect of reality but it was a very small part of what was truly a constructed television spectacle and when you take into account the corporate and commercial swing of the show there seems to be conflicting messages - especially when the final two contestants are given brand new mustangs.
Finally, it would seem that the musical aspect of the show is as much a commercial vehicle as the images being presented to us of the various entertainers and contestants. The songs sung by idol hopefuls tend to be mainstream pop songs from today as well as in the past and musical mentors such as Jennifer Lopez, Diana Ross or Tony Bennett appeared on episodes to help the contestants with their performances. It would seem that the ultimate marketing device for the music industry has been achieved by something which would at first have been looked down upon and stigmatized. Certain songs may regain popular appeal or contemporary songs could get even more exposure which naturally equates to more money and the musical mentors themselves are able to capitalize on their appearances - through exposure and promotion of their own music.
At the end of it all once the Idol has been named it can be seen that an illusion of reality has been perpetuated through the Hollywood dream factory - all this could be yours ... IF you have the talent, If you have the look, IF you have star potential, IF you are American, IF you can even get the chance to try out in the first place. American Idol may not have any true aspects of reality in its format but it has achieved what other reality TV shows haven't been able to - sustainability, market viability, audience appeal, longevity and Hollywood's stamp of approval. At the end of the day the AI formula of mixing music and image through "reality television" really does seem to work and it wouldn't appear that it is going to end anytime soon.
Musical Dissemination
Music can transcend barriers and provide a political platform across geographic boundaries. The ‘George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People’ music video by The Legendary K.O. that was screened in the last lecture is an example of this. The video uses the rap genre to critique the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as handled by the Bush administration. The Legendary K.O video is a reworked version of the popular Kanye West song, ‘Gold Digger’ and plays on his infamous "George Bush doesn’t care about Black people" quote. West delivered this charged line during the live televised Hurricane Katrina fundraiser. The Legendary K.O video samples images from the news reports, the fundraiser and the original music video to make a statement about the political situation in the United States. Subverting the context to gain a political edge, the reworked song allows the issues under discussion to resonate with an international mass audience. This artist is using music as an instrument of change, a cultural vehicle to disseminate the voice of a marginalised or disenfranchised social group. We can identify with the artist’s point of view because he is using a familiar and popular medium with which to communicate.
On and On…
The hip-hop music video is probably the one that shows the transformation as I see it. The visuals from origin were used to attract attention, but its now about acquiring these visuals that symbolise some form of status within a group. It seems that the video is more a form of escapism then before. Where portraying reality was the purpose to get a ‘real’ reaction in order for something to be done. Now it’s about escaping from that reality that still exists into one which few successful (lucky?) one have gotten to.
Sounds like I was negative on it too, not intentionally as listening to hip-hop is something I enjoy occasionally, guess my personal peeve is with the abstract visual element to it, with its physical repercussions.
The Face of Comedic Music: 'Shatneresque'
I only became aware of William Shatner's music career a few years back when I was listening to one of Ben Fold's first solo projects, 'Fear of Pop'. He 'sung' vocals in the song 'In Love', and despite the spoken word weirdness of it, it sounded okay and was a hoot to listen to (though I generally credit more on Folds' behalf, considering he is a far superior singing talent). I read up on Captain Kirk's illustrious singing career and found out that he had one CD before, 'The Transformed Man' from 1968, apparently infamous for its unintentionally hilarious versions of 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' and 'Mr Tambourine Man' (described not so much singing as it was a dramatic reading of) and earning him a large amount of laughs at the time.
Now, i'm aware of Leonard Nimoy's music success as well, but his legacy hasn't endured through it (though his voice is instantly recognisable and is well used in a number of narratives and Civilisation IV). Shatner though seemingly came back in 1998, his work with Folds ultimately culminating in 2004's 'Has Been'. Though it as the same kind of poetic style as the last album, it has apparently been relatively successful on its own merits and scores, garnering a four star from the All Music Guide. Whether this means people find his brand of song good as music or just plain weird is up to question. Numerous other celebrities have tried to sing in a more plausible and traditional fashion, but I can't think of too many who have done so well that they are synonymous with both (probably the same with Bill's case; though I at least know he's an actor, director, singer/songwriter and writer, other people aren't so likely). Generally very few people are willing to work with their celebrity status and poke fun at it. It however has worked for Shatner, solidifying his eccentric on-screen persona and he runs with it quite well (well evidenced in an episode of Futurama: "How does he do a spoken word version of 'The Real Slim Shady'?"). He can also really drag out 'Rockin' the Suburbs' on the 'Over the Hedge' OST.
Of course, that isn't an endorsement that everyone should now try their hands at singing. Some people don't have the edge or humour to make it work, even as a comedy album.
Now, i'm aware of Leonard Nimoy's music success as well, but his legacy hasn't endured through it (though his voice is instantly recognisable and is well used in a number of narratives and Civilisation IV). Shatner though seemingly came back in 1998, his work with Folds ultimately culminating in 2004's 'Has Been'. Though it as the same kind of poetic style as the last album, it has apparently been relatively successful on its own merits and scores, garnering a four star from the All Music Guide. Whether this means people find his brand of song good as music or just plain weird is up to question. Numerous other celebrities have tried to sing in a more plausible and traditional fashion, but I can't think of too many who have done so well that they are synonymous with both (probably the same with Bill's case; though I at least know he's an actor, director, singer/songwriter and writer, other people aren't so likely). Generally very few people are willing to work with their celebrity status and poke fun at it. It however has worked for Shatner, solidifying his eccentric on-screen persona and he runs with it quite well (well evidenced in an episode of Futurama: "How does he do a spoken word version of 'The Real Slim Shady'?"). He can also really drag out 'Rockin' the Suburbs' on the 'Over the Hedge' OST.
Of course, that isn't an endorsement that everyone should now try their hands at singing. Some people don't have the edge or humour to make it work, even as a comedy album.
The Punk Aesthetic
To arbitraily return to a topic I'm sure I ought to have moved on from, I thought I'd blog about the Punk Aesthetic. If you'll remember back to the lecture, since it's inception the punk...movement? Genre? has had a reasonably large focus on fashions and ways of dressing and what not. It always struck me, especially during high school when I watched as various small groups of misfits slowly transformed into small groups of punks, that there was a measure of hipocrasy in the inclusion of an aesthetic or fashion side to what I saw as a musical genre and as a political movement. I mean, I wouldn't shy away from calling myself a punk based on my tastes and beliefs but I've never been compelled to get a mohawk and cover my clothes in safety pins. I find it one of the more ridiculous dichotomies, that a punk can reject the idea of conformity and of mainstream by conforming to what now is a large mainstream group. The groups of misifts I spoke of earlier eventually transformed into The Rabble, and its ridiculous how much they owe to Rancid. Mainly haircuts, but a great swathe of clothes and album covers and poster poses have been unabashedly stolen from rancid who I'm sure were just copying someone else. They (The Rabble) aren't doing anything new as far as I can tell, and thats what I thought punk was really about.
Which brings me in a somewhat round about way to what I set out trying to say which is that I find it difficult to reconcile fashion of any kind with a musical and political system like what I consider Punk to be.
Although, I probably just missed the point of Punk and the Punk lecture.
Which brings me in a somewhat round about way to what I set out trying to say which is that I find it difficult to reconcile fashion of any kind with a musical and political system like what I consider Punk to be.
Although, I probably just missed the point of Punk and the Punk lecture.
stereotype of hiphop music
I like hip hop. I like the sound of bass and drum and I like the dance. I too like movies, so watching hip hop music increases endorphins in my body. But I always have a question in my mind that why does hip hop music always have to be focused on black people? Also, it seems that the movies are aiming at revealing senses of violence, sex and racism. No need to mention that, hip hop music represents the soul of black people about the conflictions and inferiority they have in the past. However, in this new millennium, it seems that the black is not living in darkness anymore. In most of the hip hop films, black people are poor and weak but violent. They speak violent languages, they fight and they do drugs. Black people do not stand up to the public, they perform in underground. They always struggle to achieve their goals but it is never easy because they are not superior. Ironically, they always become a winner at the end. This is the stereotypical and boring structure of the hip hop movie. The merit of the hip hop music is that it has music and dance which audiences love to watch. In my opinion, not only film but the media continues to keep the negative image of the black. Media portrays a perception of hip hop as well as black music. Yet, media is not the only material that keeps the stereotype of black people. It seems that they prefer to be that way, if we watch hip hop music video.
What is 'real' about Hip Hop?
As Nabeel was finishing his lecture on hip hop, he showed a few clips on ‘the darker side of black’ and it was what Tricia Rose said that got me thinking. She stated that what they (black rappers) portray is sometimes not ‘real’ but just a ‘play on figures’. This notion of Hip Hop as being ‘real’ is getting a bit overuse or misuse I think, and its getting more and more confusing. Lets take Ice T’s TV program on C4,’Ice T’s Rap School’ for example, the whole synopsis of the program is that Ice T takes kids from New York City's exclusive York Prep on Manhattan's Upper West Side and teaches a class of 7th and 8th graders how to become fresh MCs. In the beginning of the programme voice over exlpains;
“ For Ice-T, “Rap School” is a chance to show some privileged kids what hip hop culture is really all about, while also transforming these prepsters into playas—and proving to skeptical parents and faculty that rap can be a positive force.”
Watching a few episodes of this programme was so interesting. While Ice T is teaching these ‘beat challenged kids’ he constantly tells them to ‘be themselves’ and repeats over and over to the camera that ‘the key to getting Hip Hop is Being who you really are, being real”. This I found interesting and ironic, as it goes against what his program is setting out to do. They have taken kids who not only do not know anything about hip hop neither could rhyme, time and dance, place them in front of a microphone and tells them ‘just to be themselves’…how can you ask kids to be themselves when ‘hip hop’ is clearly and obviously not them…so by the end of the program you get kids that instead of ‘being real and being themselves’ but are acting and pretending to be these ‘playas’ that Ice T has taught them to be. It is here that I think this notion of hip hop as “being real” gets confusing and a bit out of hand. No wonder we have so many teenage gangsta wannabes swamping the streets of South Auckland. You can ask any one of them why they dress, walk, talk the way they do and they will tell you that ‘its just who they are’, some will probably unpleasantly say more than that, but what they will say will eventually slide along those lines. The sad thing about this however, is that I know that this is not true, as someone who has been living in South Auckland all my life and is working with south Auckland youth, these kids did not always walk, talk, behave like gangsters, the way they do now and this goes to show just how huge of a influence and power Hip Hop has and the fact that it is not necessarily about ‘being real’. So if this is the case, then what is so ‘real’ about Hip Hop?. I guess i can say that the way Ice T is influencing these kids on his programme is the same way Hip Hop is impacting and influencing the generation today.
If you want to check out Ice T’s Rap school, you can find series of this program on the website below
`http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/ice_t_rap_school/series.jhtml
“ For Ice-T, “Rap School” is a chance to show some privileged kids what hip hop culture is really all about, while also transforming these prepsters into playas—and proving to skeptical parents and faculty that rap can be a positive force.”
Watching a few episodes of this programme was so interesting. While Ice T is teaching these ‘beat challenged kids’ he constantly tells them to ‘be themselves’ and repeats over and over to the camera that ‘the key to getting Hip Hop is Being who you really are, being real”. This I found interesting and ironic, as it goes against what his program is setting out to do. They have taken kids who not only do not know anything about hip hop neither could rhyme, time and dance, place them in front of a microphone and tells them ‘just to be themselves’…how can you ask kids to be themselves when ‘hip hop’ is clearly and obviously not them…so by the end of the program you get kids that instead of ‘being real and being themselves’ but are acting and pretending to be these ‘playas’ that Ice T has taught them to be. It is here that I think this notion of hip hop as “being real” gets confusing and a bit out of hand. No wonder we have so many teenage gangsta wannabes swamping the streets of South Auckland. You can ask any one of them why they dress, walk, talk the way they do and they will tell you that ‘its just who they are’, some will probably unpleasantly say more than that, but what they will say will eventually slide along those lines. The sad thing about this however, is that I know that this is not true, as someone who has been living in South Auckland all my life and is working with south Auckland youth, these kids did not always walk, talk, behave like gangsters, the way they do now and this goes to show just how huge of a influence and power Hip Hop has and the fact that it is not necessarily about ‘being real’. So if this is the case, then what is so ‘real’ about Hip Hop?. I guess i can say that the way Ice T is influencing these kids on his programme is the same way Hip Hop is impacting and influencing the generation today.
If you want to check out Ice T’s Rap school, you can find series of this program on the website below
`http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/ice_t_rap_school/series.jhtml
In love: artist or song?
I was thinking about how I viewed my favouritism - towards the artist or the song? I think in my case it is definitley the artist because we hear a song or maybe a couple and decide that we like them therefore go out to buy the album. While listening to the rest of the songs you sometimes find they are a lot different from the original songs you had brought the cd for. I have a few cds which I listen to the songs that have been released and the other songs on the album don't appeal to me so I don't listen to them - so in that case I'm in love with the song not the artist. But then there are times where if i make myself listen to all the songs on a particular album I begin to really enjoy all of them. Is that because I'm making myself think I have to like all the songs because I love the artist? or are they just slowly growing on me....I think half the impact of buying an album is the surprise factor - it would be boring to buy an album that you knew all the songs to because you want to hear stuff that you haven't heard on the radio. But soundtracks and compilations are good because we know what we are getting. Sometimes the song appeals then you see the music video and somehow the artists are not the imagination that you had of them in your head so you soon fall out of the love appeal there. Just something I was thinking about....
The MySpace Phenomenon
This week’s reading got me thinking about MySpace. What started out as a “dating” site similar to Friendster, has become a media outlet for musicians and TV shows. It’s unheard of for any band today to not have a MySpace in which they can stream new or old or live songs, link to their videos (usually on YouTube), post in the blogs and receive fan feedback on their walls. Even TV stations, such as FOX in the US, have MySpace pages for their shows where fans can watch an episode that has just aired. But isn’t the internet supposed to be an evil place for the capitalist world that steals music and video content and shares it for free? It seems that this new media outlet particularly on MySpace (contributed to by YouTube) is helping companies and artists to make more money than previously possible. I can’t even count how many times I’ve been “friended” by a band on MySpace, just dying to spread their music to more people, but also, think about how many bands have grown from MySpace. It’s actually even more common today to have a band’s website solely consist of its MySpace profile. This offers so many new levels for fans and for musicians. Fans can listen to more songs before they’re released on albums, they can interact with the musicians through writing usually nonsensical notes of admiration on their walls or by sending messages (a lot of cases in which bands respond and make the days of so many sad teens, much brighter). MySpace creates an almost personal and intimate level of music appreciation and music sharing between musician and fan – a level which was previously only ever crossed MAYBE at a backstage door after a show. Reading musicians’ blogs, offers further insight into their otherwise secret lives especially with the posting of pictures as well. Not to mention the fact that any band who wants can have a MySpace. Some of my friends’ bands who will probably never make it, have MySpace pages in hopes to reach their fans and create new ones. This interface offers a greater advantage for self-promotion as material is more accessible along with feedback. It will be interesting to see over the next few years whether or not MySpace expands to bring artists and fans closer than before through possibly new ways of sharing content.
Music video's favour major labels
When radio was first established it was believed that it would damage the music industry. Why would people buy records when they can hear them for free on the radio? The radio later turned out to have quite the opposite effect; it proved to be a great marketing tool. Just like the radio, the internet too has had criticisms for its ability to damage the music industry. There is a heightened fear that Mp3 downloads are killing the industry, people are not buying EP’s anymore. While this to an extent may be true, I think through new technologies the power and control in the music industry has shifted from major labels to unsigned artists and independent labels. The internet has provided a way to cut out the middle-man, a record deal is no longer needed for artists to get their music out to mass audiences.
While the Radio and Internet have benefited artists and independent record labels, the development of the music video in ways has given the advantage to the major labels. Jack Banks argues the music video today has become a ‘necessary form of promotion for recording artists’. However unlike the internet which provides free promotion, music videos are a form of promotion that makes struggling independent labels and artists struggle even more. The average commission for music videos granted by major labels is a staggering $60,000 -$80,000, an amount far exceeding the budgets of independent labels. In comparison, Independent labels have an average budget of around $1000 to $6000 (especially in New Zealand). Indie labels are therefore unable to utilize the music video medium as an effective way to promote music. This is not to say that indie labels don’t make videos, they do, they make a lot; if you watch ALT TV you will see how many unsigned and signed NZ bands have made videos on cheap budgets. However, close relationships between MTV and Major labels (according to Banks) has meant a ‘conservative programming policy’ in which artists signed to major labels are given the most play. In conjunction with this, artists on major labels often end up with videos that look more professional which is favoured by music video channels such as MTV.
In summary, music videos, while a great form or music promotion unfortunately favours in general those artists on major labels. New technology is a way for indie labels to gain some control in the music industry without requiring large budgets.
While the Radio and Internet have benefited artists and independent record labels, the development of the music video in ways has given the advantage to the major labels. Jack Banks argues the music video today has become a ‘necessary form of promotion for recording artists’. However unlike the internet which provides free promotion, music videos are a form of promotion that makes struggling independent labels and artists struggle even more. The average commission for music videos granted by major labels is a staggering $60,000 -$80,000, an amount far exceeding the budgets of independent labels. In comparison, Independent labels have an average budget of around $1000 to $6000 (especially in New Zealand). Indie labels are therefore unable to utilize the music video medium as an effective way to promote music. This is not to say that indie labels don’t make videos, they do, they make a lot; if you watch ALT TV you will see how many unsigned and signed NZ bands have made videos on cheap budgets. However, close relationships between MTV and Major labels (according to Banks) has meant a ‘conservative programming policy’ in which artists signed to major labels are given the most play. In conjunction with this, artists on major labels often end up with videos that look more professional which is favoured by music video channels such as MTV.
In summary, music videos, while a great form or music promotion unfortunately favours in general those artists on major labels. New technology is a way for indie labels to gain some control in the music industry without requiring large budgets.
Music videos for the big screen
Compilation soundtracks (soundtracks using existing songs) are a common entity in this era of movie production and one of the offshoots that has appeared over the years is music videos for existing songs that incorporate imagery (and sometimes audio) from the movie that the song features in.
There has been a glut of such videos over the years (at least to my mind) and the generally impression they give is something like the record company being 'cheap' in their production by not paying for original material. The artist(s) are usually performing in a space that resembles the feel of the film that the song is linked to and the performance is inter-cut with footage from the film. Very rarely do the two aspect actually inhabit the same space (one would assume that scheduling, expense and so forth would prohibit such a move). Usually this causes the two aspects to feel very distinct and cause a lack of cohesion that is to the detriment of the video as a whole.
Not all such videos follow the formula, some artists and directors attempt to reach that cohesion while still promoting the movie as a movie. The Foo Fighters have on at least two occasions produced videos that visually link both the movie footage with the bands footage. Taking a look at their video for Breakout, we see the band going to see the movie Me, Myself and Irene (the movie the song is on the soundtrack of) at a drive in theatre.
The video does feature cast members from the movie acting with the band as they recreate one of the thematic elements of the film (Tony Cox seducing Dave Grohl's date, played by Traylor Howard). This in conjunction with the film footage shown being played on the drive in screen makes the music video an entity in it's own right, rather than a tag-on to the film.
The 'music video from a movie' concept has been around for a long enough period of time that some artists have parodied it in various ways. A recent version of this idea is evident in the 30 Seconds To Mars video for The Kill.The video producers have taken Stanley Kubrick's move The Shining, and effectively supplanted the band into the position of the family (played by Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duvall and Danny Lloyd). The format of the video has the song broken up by pieces of plot based closely on the original film. I think it would be fair to say that this video is not so much a music video from a film, but rather a film from a music video.
Another example of parody is the video for Stabbing Westward's Shame, where they invent a movie to be associated with.
This video appears at the beginning to be nothing more than a 'run of the mill' music video from a film, that is until the band start disappearing from the performance space. Their disappearance is in fact them sneaking away to sit down and watch the movie in a theatre type area. This use of an established format which is 'turned on it's side' is interesting because it relies on videos produced before it to really be effective as the viewer needs to be familiar with the movie music video schematic.
Whether all these music videos could be considered in the arena of 'morphing' I'm sure is debatable, however both the 30 Seconds to Mars and the Stabbing Westward videos I think are great examples. Both take an existing format and change it in such a manner that the viewer can see the similarities to the standard filmic music video while still being shown something new at the same time. The Stabbing Westward video I find most interesting because of the subtlety that it uses in 'stepping outside the box'. By introducing only a few new concepts (the band as an audience for example) the producers have effectively created a new type of video that still shows it's 'roots' in the more traditional format.
There has been a glut of such videos over the years (at least to my mind) and the generally impression they give is something like the record company being 'cheap' in their production by not paying for original material. The artist(s) are usually performing in a space that resembles the feel of the film that the song is linked to and the performance is inter-cut with footage from the film. Very rarely do the two aspect actually inhabit the same space (one would assume that scheduling, expense and so forth would prohibit such a move). Usually this causes the two aspects to feel very distinct and cause a lack of cohesion that is to the detriment of the video as a whole.
Not all such videos follow the formula, some artists and directors attempt to reach that cohesion while still promoting the movie as a movie. The Foo Fighters have on at least two occasions produced videos that visually link both the movie footage with the bands footage. Taking a look at their video for Breakout, we see the band going to see the movie Me, Myself and Irene (the movie the song is on the soundtrack of) at a drive in theatre.
The 'music video from a movie' concept has been around for a long enough period of time that some artists have parodied it in various ways. A recent version of this idea is evident in the 30 Seconds To Mars video for The Kill.The video producers have taken Stanley Kubrick's move The Shining, and effectively supplanted the band into the position of the family (played by Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duvall and Danny Lloyd). The format of the video has the song broken up by pieces of plot based closely on the original film. I think it would be fair to say that this video is not so much a music video from a film, but rather a film from a music video.
Another example of parody is the video for Stabbing Westward's Shame, where they invent a movie to be associated with.
Whether all these music videos could be considered in the arena of 'morphing' I'm sure is debatable, however both the 30 Seconds to Mars and the Stabbing Westward videos I think are great examples. Both take an existing format and change it in such a manner that the viewer can see the similarities to the standard filmic music video while still being shown something new at the same time. The Stabbing Westward video I find most interesting because of the subtlety that it uses in 'stepping outside the box'. By introducing only a few new concepts (the band as an audience for example) the producers have effectively created a new type of video that still shows it's 'roots' in the more traditional format.
Music as interwoven in the fabric of life
It is interesting to consider how music is part of our lives and how it can transform lives from being somewhat dull into something more meaningful. Is the music we listen to culturally specific? For example hearing popular music from other countries such as China or Russia or India does have a different sound to pop music from say England or America or even Germany. Also, do the songs we've grown up with, or what was popular in our parents' generation and generations before theirs have an influence on the music we prefer? We may consider other generation's music old fashioned, but for them it was anything but. For example, consider how ground breaking rock'n'roll was in the 1950's in America. The music receiving radio play at the time was gospel or ditties. Music seems to resonate with certain cultural stages over time and also has traceable roots from previous eras. For example on C4 its interesting to watch shows which feature the top 10 songs from certain eras. What was popular then in both sound and visually (their clothes, and how the video was filmed) can seem strange, sentimentilised or even simplistic now. An interesting film on how culturally specific music can be is the lighthearted 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'. The marriage of the two lovers is also symbolic of the marrying of different cultures and of course traditional Greek music is used throughout the film as both music score and diagetically during their wedding when the traditional greek dancing is done. The music in the film seamlessly supports the narrative at the same time as reinforcing its own cultural specifity and how embedded it is in Greek culture. Another popular film which operates in a similar way is 'Bend it Like Beckham' were we see younger generation cultures mingling and melding and yet their music is still one of the cultural markers of cultural difference as in the wedding scene of the older sister.
Rap In The Middle East
I just finished looking at the article Nabeel linked to in an earlier post; 'Arab Pop and Television'. One thing that struck me was the fact that the youth of these far-off countries appear to be becoming more 'Westernised'.
"There's a real frustration in the Middle East among young people, and this is a way for them to kind of escape their family structure - of dating, of arranged marriages etc - and actually meet people in different countries - young people - and connect with them."
Is their sense of dissatisfaction leading them to look for inspiration from other cultures, or are we in fact in danger of becoming a mono-cultural world? With the spread of the internet and 'Coca-Colaisation' is it just a matter of time before we all follow in the path of America, (unfortunately) our current world power?
Reading this article led me to an even more interesting thought. The videos that Nabeel showed in class of Islamic rap were of course very anti-American. However, the style (rap) is very American in itself. Does it not seem ironic that countries which are completely at war with the United States still style their music in a way that is distinctly American? - albeit a distinctly black, anti-capitalist style.
However, black American rap artists often use guns etc. on their covers/in their videos to feed into the media representation of them, drawing attention to the artificiality of their construction. With the Islamic rap on the other hand, the videos seem to show the wrongs that have been done to their culture by America. Perhaps they simply use the 'rap' style to try and get their work noticed by the Western world...?
"There's a real frustration in the Middle East among young people, and this is a way for them to kind of escape their family structure - of dating, of arranged marriages etc - and actually meet people in different countries - young people - and connect with them."
Is their sense of dissatisfaction leading them to look for inspiration from other cultures, or are we in fact in danger of becoming a mono-cultural world? With the spread of the internet and 'Coca-Colaisation' is it just a matter of time before we all follow in the path of America, (unfortunately) our current world power?
Reading this article led me to an even more interesting thought. The videos that Nabeel showed in class of Islamic rap were of course very anti-American. However, the style (rap) is very American in itself. Does it not seem ironic that countries which are completely at war with the United States still style their music in a way that is distinctly American? - albeit a distinctly black, anti-capitalist style.
However, black American rap artists often use guns etc. on their covers/in their videos to feed into the media representation of them, drawing attention to the artificiality of their construction. With the Islamic rap on the other hand, the videos seem to show the wrongs that have been done to their culture by America. Perhaps they simply use the 'rap' style to try and get their work noticed by the Western world...?
Video didn't kill the radio star
Watching contemporary music videos, im struggling to find the point in them these days. Many seem futile, pointless and irrelevant, and even a struggle to watch. They are cartoons, random dance sequences, or even worse, a random sequence of images. I thought the point of a music video was to sell more records, or sell the artist? How does a random, single-shot treadmill dance sequence achieve this? Have any of you brought the record for ok/go?!
Im arguing that perhaps we are seeing a revival in the importance of the song/music itself, and that Video didnt in fact kill the radio star. Perhaps today, even though the majority of music is downloaded, we are reviving an appreciation for the music itself and the sheer emotions it brings us, rather than emphasising the commerciability of the artist. This is further evidenced by the fact that we are seeing an increasing array of talent present live shows to our shores. It seems that a manufactured image of the artist is not enough - we want the real thing!!
Im arguing that perhaps we are seeing a revival in the importance of the song/music itself, and that Video didnt in fact kill the radio star. Perhaps today, even though the majority of music is downloaded, we are reviving an appreciation for the music itself and the sheer emotions it brings us, rather than emphasising the commerciability of the artist. This is further evidenced by the fact that we are seeing an increasing array of talent present live shows to our shores. It seems that a manufactured image of the artist is not enough - we want the real thing!!
Does Size Matter?
The April 2007 release of 'From Yesterday' by 30 Seconds to Mars has now knocked off the video clip 'Scream' by Michael Jackson on the Most Expensive Video Chart List after it having held the number one spot for 12 years!! Costing $13 million, it is nearly double the $7 million spent on 'Scream'. When watching it, you can see why (See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztRBrnCs4dc). The extras, Asian settings and fireworks display were insane, making it definately seem like a 'mini movie'.
A crazy amount of money to spend on just over 5 minutes of film, but perhaps worth it.. It has proved to become a very popular clip! "The current single by 30 Seconds To Mars, "From Yesterday," maintains its dominant position in the Modern Rock Top 10 and is continuing to climb the charts." [Starpulse.com, 02/05/07] The album seems to be doing particularly well as well, which I'm sure the expensive video clip added to:
"With a record-setting run of 50 weeks on the Billboard Modern Rock airplay chart and counting, "The Kill," by Virgin Records platinum rock quartet 30 Seconds To Mars is now the longest-running hit in the history of the Modern Rock chart, which first started monitoring in 1988." [ibid]
It was interesting how the video brought other parts of the 323 course into mind as well, with the punk-like (actually emo but this seems to have originated from Punk) look to it. The only noticeable colours are black and red (including the main singers hair) and just a touch of yellow! It is funny how much this phenomenon has become so widely popular and almost mainstream when it was originally a lash-out towards this society!
A crazy amount of money to spend on just over 5 minutes of film, but perhaps worth it.. It has proved to become a very popular clip! "The current single by 30 Seconds To Mars, "From Yesterday," maintains its dominant position in the Modern Rock Top 10 and is continuing to climb the charts." [Starpulse.com, 02/05/07] The album seems to be doing particularly well as well, which I'm sure the expensive video clip added to:
"With a record-setting run of 50 weeks on the Billboard Modern Rock airplay chart and counting, "The Kill," by Virgin Records platinum rock quartet 30 Seconds To Mars is now the longest-running hit in the history of the Modern Rock chart, which first started monitoring in 1988." [ibid]
It was interesting how the video brought other parts of the 323 course into mind as well, with the punk-like (actually emo but this seems to have originated from Punk) look to it. The only noticeable colours are black and red (including the main singers hair) and just a touch of yellow! It is funny how much this phenomenon has become so widely popular and almost mainstream when it was originally a lash-out towards this society!
Soundtrack Gone Too Far?
Being a bit of a zombie movie fan, I was excited to see 28 Weeks Later, the much anticipated sequel to 28 Days Later. Overall I thought the film was a bit of a disappointment and it took me a while to pinpoint exactly where exactly it went wrong. I hate to say it, but for this filmgoer it was largely due to the soundtrack. A lot of the action sequences were juxtaposed against rock music. Seeing as it was a great soundtrack, I’m sure others will disagree with me, but the music did not complement the suspense adequately enough for this horror/thriller genre. Perhaps this film is an example of filmmakers taking the compilation score too far – giving precedence over the music and thus, in this case, sacrificing the suspense and gore. Without a menacing nature, the soundtrack almost made the horror scenes bearable, and instead of worrying how the characters were going to get out alive, I was trying to think of where I had heard the songs before. I find it amazing how the musical suspense created in classic thrillers such Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, still stands up against it contemporary counterpart and win every time.
The Changing Screen
After talking about morphing and the changing appearances of artists such as Michael Jackson the other day in the lecture I started to think about the way that we view music on screen has changed. The screen itself has got smaller and smaller over the years which has allowed for more versatility in where we view the music. Not only can you download music videos and films from places like iTunes to your iPod, for example, to watch them whenever and wherever you want, now websites like tvnz on demand can allow you the same sort of versatility to watch TV shows on your computer. By giving us the versatility to consume music the way that we want to, the control has been taken away from the media and given to us, the consumer. We can listen and watch music in the order that we want to, when we want to.
Political Lyrics
Feeding political messages into lyrics and music videos is not a new concept, nor is it an uncommon one. For musicians who have a political message to get across to their audience, the most effective way to do so is to encode it into their music. This can be subtle, like the lyrics for the Cranberries hit single "Zombie," or not-so-subtle, like N.W.A's "Fuck Tha Police." The lyrics of the latter are clear and effective: black American adolescents, specifically males, are stereotyped and victimized by a political system that doesn't understand them, and the video and lyrics encourage a powerful (albeit negative) message of resistance and uprising against this action. The lyrics for the former are not so easy to diffuse. The song only explicitly references one specific event, the Easter Rising of 1916. Although it is arguably not easy for an audience to immediately associate, the song is a protest song against what is known as "The Troubles" - the conflict present in Northern Ireland since the 19th century. It would be safe to assume that a large portion of an audience hearing this song for the first time would not understand the references made, to "another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken" which references the death of children as a result of the conflict caused by the war over the freedom of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The purpose of the lyrics aids in understanding their meaning. While both are songs of protest, "Zombie" aims to encourage peaceful protest, while "Fuck tha Police" encourages oppressed youth to stand up to the political system responsible for their oppression.
"Fuck Tha Police" by N.W.A
"Zombie" by The Cranberries.
"Fuck Tha Police" by N.W.A
"Zombie" by The Cranberries.
Hip Hop and 'Keeping it Real'
When people are up in the club or at a party dancing and jamming away to a Hip Hop song with a hot beat, the last thing on their minds are the lyrics to the song. I don’t think one really pays attention to the lyrics at that moment because they are so hyped up into the song. Yes latest Hip Hop songs have if I may say so my self the hottest beats so one cant help but dance. This is what Nabeel mean when he said in the lecture that we can get so emersed into the beat that we forget about the lyrics. But when the following day comes and we hear the song on the radio or the television and pay attention to the lyrics they don’t seem as appealing because we find some degrading to women.
Hip Hop has enormously changed from the days rapping about freedom, violence and the hatred towards black people to money, bling, women, sex and drugs. Even though there are still some true “keeping it real” rappers out there as Spike Lee says, many have converted into this new life style and its here to stay because people love it. The more we buy their albums or download their songs, go to their concerts, we are supporting what they rap about.
(Video shown in class) King Kapisi ‘keeps it real’ because he raps about his roots-, who he is, where he comes from, raps about his Samoan culture and is proud of it. He doesn’t bring in issues that are not apart of his culture and this is what Spike Lee means when he refers to ‘keeping it real’.
Hip Hop has enormously changed from the days rapping about freedom, violence and the hatred towards black people to money, bling, women, sex and drugs. Even though there are still some true “keeping it real” rappers out there as Spike Lee says, many have converted into this new life style and its here to stay because people love it. The more we buy their albums or download their songs, go to their concerts, we are supporting what they rap about.
(Video shown in class) King Kapisi ‘keeps it real’ because he raps about his roots-, who he is, where he comes from, raps about his Samoan culture and is proud of it. He doesn’t bring in issues that are not apart of his culture and this is what Spike Lee means when he refers to ‘keeping it real’.
Hip Hops Fantasy of Violence
I find the idea that people can like gangster films and appreciate rap without wanting to see it in real life to be quite thought provoking. It seems that so much of rap is caught up in the fantasy of dangerous lifestyles and that guns and violence play a key part in defining what the hip hop culture is. I am not suggesting that rap violence is altogether ‘bad’ or that we are all going to act out everything we see on television; I am simply pointing out what seems to me to be a gray area between reality and fantasy of the rap culture. What I find interesting is the gap between the fantasy and reality or more specifically the ill-defined nature of that gap. As was described in one of the clips viewed the hip-hop market involves ‘ young guys acting out an identity which then takes on a life of it’s own.’ My question is; who is the real rap artist? There seems to be a blurred boundary between the rap artist and their projection of themselves, which I feel complicates the boundaries of enjoying rap music and culture and not wanting to see it in real life. If the projection of the violent rap artist is the only image we see where does the fantasy of violence stop and the artists reality begin?
Kathryn B
Kathryn B
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