Textual Analysis #1 - Pink - Family Portrait

Conventions of form:
The familiar and predictable forms and techniques used by the media to communicate certain ideas or to convey a desired impression.
Conventions genre:
The common characteristics or conventions of any genre, including film, are sometimes calles codes. These include structural codes, which are such features as particular kinds of plot, character or setting. Stylistic codes include such features as particular lighting, shooting style, or music.

P!ink - Family Portrait
For one of my textual analysis', I have chosen Pink's 'Family Portrait', as it links very well with my style of music video that I am re creating - a love triangle. Pink demonstrates this very well in the following music video.



Cinematography:
In this video, there is a wide range of cinematography elements used throughout. Many high angle shots are used, particularly during the beginning. This may purely be because the lyrics used in this part of the song are not of the happiest; Pink is talking about how her mum is always crying and this is because of her dad; 'Mumma please stop crying, I can't stand the sound, your pain is painful and it's tearing me down'. The use of the high angel shots in this instance clearly highlight the fact that the female protagonist (Pink) is most definitely the submissive in this shot, along with the younger version of herself. Many close ups have also been used in this video, most notably when switching from the female protagonist and the female antagonist (young Pink), in this case because the audience wants to see two different emotions. The young Pink in this instance can be seen to be upset and worried, hence why she sings the lyrics 'mumma please stop crying, I can't stand the sound', whereas the present Pink seems to have given up on trying, hence why she sings 'I don't want love to destroy me like it has done my family'. Two shots are a regular cinematography element in this video, particularly when the protagonist and antagonist, confidently highlighting that there is the need for two characters so neither character feels lonely, which is a key idea in this song.

Mise-en-scene:
This music video, again, uses many aspects of mise-en-scene, the first being very limited dark colours, for example, the white tank top and plain blue jeans, white bed covers, white phone etc. The main reason behind this is because the artist would want the focus to definitely be on the lyrics, as the lyrics themselves has meaning; the video is, in this case, just to accompany the lyrics. Dull, dark lighting has also been used in most scenes in this video, particularly those where both the protagonist and antagonist are shot together. Most of the scenes with both in convey a more down, depressing mood, compared to the rest of the video where some natural lighting has been allowed to occur ( most notably in the first scene where Pink can be seen to be in bed - lighting from outside has been allowed to enter, likely because it represents Pink starting the same, original, tedious day - much like that of Gary Jules' Mad World. Casual clothes are a big thing in this music video; Pink wears jeans and plain tops all the way through and so does the younger version of her. This connotates the run down life that Pink is living; she doesn't want to dress up and doesn't feel like doing large amounts of makeup (minimal makeup is used in every shot). This then links with the location. The location of this performance is at a run down apartment, most likely in an American city. I find it relatively normal that the producer has chosen to film in what looks like a lonely abandoned apartment, seen as the key idea of the song is about loneliness, and how the protagonist has felt alone for a big chunk of her life.

Sound:
There aren't that many sound elements in this video, however non-diegetic sound is the main sound used. This is the most important sound element, and is used in almost 100% of all music videos. In this song, non-diegetic sound is used the whole way through the music video, as the song (which is the non-diegetic sound) is played throughout the whole video, and no other sounds can be heard at all. Towards the end of the video, the song quietly dissolves instead of automatically cutting out. This is an effective way of keeping the audience involved with the song until it finishes entirely, as the audience now have the chance to, instead of just focusing on the lyrics, focus on the emotion that each character feels, however this is mainly centred on the female protagonist. The main element in this performance is the fact that there is more than just the artist performing the song; the female antagonist is performing a good range of it too, and this would have been used for effect - the idea of a broken family, a child upset would mean more to an audience and affect them more than an adult upset etc.

Editing:
The order of the shots in this video are mainly chronological; they tell a story. This means that there is a big use of verisimilitude in this video, as the video is set with the sue of continuity editing; the story is in the right order and physically makes sense. Not only this, it is easy for us as the audience to understand - a big thing for industries to take into account, as, if a music video doesn't make sense, it is less attractive for the audience, which therefore means they are less likely to buy it. Basic editing skills have been used, however a very complex storyline has also been used. This could have been used for effect, as the audience, having to interpret a complex storyline, then do not have to also interpret why the editing effects have been used in that way etc.

Are You Gonna Be My Girl Lyrics Analysis

Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl (My Chosen Music Video)

I have come to the conclusion that the music video I have chosen to re-create is that of Jet's 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl'. The reason behind this is the fact that it is not only an upbeat song and will therefore appeal to more people, but it is also something that a lot of people can relate to due to it being a very popular song,  and I therefore think that it will attract a wide audience. 

Charles Pierce - Semiotics - Language Essay

Charles Pierce
Semiotics

According to philosopher Charles Pierce, "we only think in signs". Signs, in this case, take the form of words, images, sounds, odours, flavours, acts or objects, but such things have no intrinsic meaning and become signs only when we invest them with meaning and become signs only when we invest them with meaning.

"Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign" - Pierce 1931

Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as 'signifying' something - referring to or standing for something other than itself. We interpret things as sings largely unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions. It is this meaningful use of sings which is at the heart of the concerns of semiotics.

Charles stated that there were 3 types of sign:

1. Icon/iconic - a mode in which the signifier is perceived as resembling or imitating the signified (recognisably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it) - being similar in possessing some of its qualities. E.g. a portrait, a cartoon, a scale-model, onomatopoeia, metaphors, 'realistic' sounds in programme music, sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack, imitative gestures etc.
2. Index/indexical - a mode in which the signifier is not arbitrary but is directly connected in some way (physically or casually) to the signified - think link can be observed of inferred: e.g. 'natural signs' like smoke, thunder, footprints, echoes, non-synthetic odours and flavours), medical symptoms such as pain, a rash, pulse rate, measuring instruments like a thermometer, a clock, spirit level etc. 
3.   Symbol/symbolic: a mode in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is fundamentally arbitrary or purely conventional - so that the relationship must be learnt: e.g. the language in general (plus specific languages, alphabetical letters, punctuation marks, words, phrases and sentences), numbers, morse code, traffic lights, national flags etc.

Denotation, Connotation and Myth

• In semiotics, denotation and connotation are terms describing the relationship between the signifier and its signified, and an analytic distinction is made between two types of signifieds: a denotive signified and a connotative signified. Meaning includes both denotation and connotation.

Roland Barthe - Semiotics - Language Essay

Roland Barthe
Semiotics

Roland Barthe researched how audiences interpret what they see. He said "If narratives are episodic this helps our reading. A chain of cuase and effect is expected but the audience desires to see a story of morals."
He argued that the audience looks for signs to help them interpret the narrative, and, according to him, these deeply rooted signs are based on expectations the audience has due to their prior knowledge of old tales or myths.

His theory of how we interpret is as follows:

                                          Signifier                                         Signified
                                       (The object)                                     (The meaning)
                                               \                                                          /
                                                 \                                                       /
                                                   \                                                   /

Semiology

(The relationship between the signifier and signified)

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Sign

(The total of the signifier and signified, e.g. how we interpret the combination of the signifier and the signified)

The Nike symbol not only represents a fashion brand, a sports brand, a sponsor, a global company and subsidiaries, but it also now has many different meanings. Marketing methods like quoting the famous 'Just Do It' are no longer needed, as the symbol itself is recognisable enough and now has many deeper meanings.

For example, a stop sign:

• The stop sign (the signifier) is to prevent traffic going a particular way (the signified).

David Buckingham - Genre as Change - Genre Essay

David Buckingham
Genre As Change

David Buckingham is a media theorist who believes that children and young people have identities that don't exist at all or are constantly changing. He studied their interactions with electronic media, and he believes that ,due to the constant change of media, identities are constantly changing. He believes that genre isn't simply given to a young person as part of their culture, but instead it is constantly being negotiated and changed. The media reveals the bad sides of the world and therefore parents keep their children indoors to hide them from this reality. Due to this, children spend far too much time around various types of media such as TV's and computers, and therefore learn too much about the world and are constantly going through change due to the amount of views, opinions and cultures that they observe.

In relation to the topic of nerds, this theory by Buckingham makes sense as nerds are known to spend countless hours using these various types of media. This media includes games consoles, computers and TV's. Out of all the social groups and genres that exist in the world, nerds will spend the most time using this media and therefore becoming exposed to what it contains. They will not witness this first hand as they are not known to spend a lot of time outside socialising, but the increasingly growing opinion that nerds are often the victims of bullying is evidence of the fact that they may look upon the world and it's features in a negative way. They may have bad experiences with other people and various types of media will help them communicate with people similar to them, which will allow them to gain an understanding of the world in a different way to others. Although nerds are the most likely to find increasingly detailed content on the internet, this may not be the case. Even though nerds do spend a lot of time around computers, they are not known to do anything with them but use them as gaming platforms. They play console games, computer games and internet based games. Their huge interest in this hobby restricts them from viewing content that can cause a constant change in their identities, which is what will be happening to most young people.


"Identity is complicated, it's never simple or straight forward"
"Identity is complex, everyone thinks they have one"

Nicholas Abercrombie - Hybrid Genres - Genre Essay

Nicholas Abercrombie
Hybrid Genres

Nicholas Abercrombie identifies the use of genre for media producers when he writes 'Television producers set out to exploit genre conventions'. His argument is that media producers can re use conventions, creating formulaic and conventional products that are familiar and appeal to the audience. He suggests that 'the boundaries between genres are shifting and becoming more permeable'. Abercrombie is concerned with modern television, which he suggests seems to be engaged in 'a steady dismantling of genre', as well as suggesting that genres are not fixed. They constantly evolve over time.

Postmodern Style

Rick Altman - Genre Pleasure - Genre Essay

Rick Altman
Genre Pleasure

Theorist Rick Altman (1999) argues that genre offers audiences 'a set of pleasures'.

1. Emotional Pleasures: The emotional pleasures offered to audiences of genre films are particularly significant when they generate a strong audience response. 
2. Visceral Pleasures: These are gut responses and are defined by how the film's stylistic construction elicits a physical effect upon its audience. This can be a feeling of revulsion, kinetic speed or a 'roller coaster ride'. 
3. Intellectual Puzzles: Certain film genres, such as the thriller or the 'whodunit', offer the pleasure in trying to unravel a mystery or a puzzle. Pleasure is derived from deciphering the plot and forecasting the end or the being surprised by the unexpected.  

Jason Mitchell - Cultural Categories - Genre Essay

Jason Mitchell
Cultural Categories

Jason Mitchell (2001) argues that genres are cultural categories that surpass the boundaries of media texts and operate within the industry, audience and cultural practises as well.
Industries use genre to seel products to audiences. Media producers use familiar codes and conventions that very often make cultural references to their audience knowledge of society and other texts etc.
Genre also allows audiences to make choices about what products they want to consume through acceptance in order to fulfil a particular pleasure.  

Steve Neal - Dynamic Genre - Genre Essay

Steve Neal
Dynamic Genre

Steve Neal stresses that genres are not 'systems', they are processes of systemisation, for example, they are dynamic and evolve over time.

Generic characteristics across all texts share similar elements of the below depending on the medium:

• Typical mise-en-scene - iconography, props, set design, lighting, temporal and geographic location, costume, shot types, camera angles, special effects etc.
• Typical types of narrative - plots, historical setting, set pieces. 
• Generic types - i.e. typical characters (do typical male/female roles exist?)
• Typical studios/production companies
• Typical personnel - directors, producers, actors, stars, auteurs etc.
• Typical sound design - sound design, dialogue, music, sound effects.
• Typical editing style

History of Music Videos

Pam Cook - Narrative Development - Narrative Essay

Pam Cook
Narrative Development

The structure of the classic narrative system

According to Pam Cook, the standard Hollywood narrative structure should have a linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution, meaning  that stories should have a beginning, a middle and an end (linearity), in which something happens (cause and effect), causing a series of problems (enigmas) which to be solved (resolution).
It should also have a high degree of narrative closure and a fictional world that contains verisimilitude, especially governed by spatial and temporal choice. Continuity editing is the predominant style of editing in narrative cinema and television. The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots. In most films, logical coherence is achieved by cutting to continuity, which emphasizes smooth transition of time and space.

Todorv - Narrative Structure - Narrative Essay

Todorv
Narrative Structure

Tzvetan Todorv created a way of explaining the narrative structure of a music video through 5 stages:

Stage 1: A point of stable equilibrium, where everything is satisfied, calm and normal.
Stage 2: This stability is then disrupted by some kind of force, which creates a state of disequilibrium.
Stage 3: Recognition that a disruption has taken place.
Stage 4: It is only possible to re-create equilibrium through action directed against the disruption.
Stage 5: Restoration of a new state of equilibrium. The consequences of the reaction is to change the world of the narrative and/or the characters so that the final state of equilibrium is not the same as the initial state.

• In short as O'Sullivan et al suggest, narratives has a common structure, starting with the establishment of plot or theme. 
• This is then followed by the development of the problem. an enigma (Roland Barthes), an increase in tention.
• Finally comes the resolution of the plot. 
• Such narratives can be unambiguous and linear.

Tim O'Sullivan - Culture and Society - Narrative Essay

Tim O'Sullivan
Culture and Society

Tim O'Sullivan argues that all media tells us some kind of story. Through careful mediation, media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves - not usually our own personal stories, but the story of  us as a culture or set of cultures. Narrative theory sets out to shoe that what we experience when we 'read' a story is to understand a particular set of constructions or conventions, and that it is important to be aware of how these constructions are out together.

• Narrative: The structure of a story.
• Diegesis: The fictional space and time implied by the narrative - the world in which the story itself takes place. 
•  Verisimilitude: Literally the quality of appearing to be real or true. For a story to engage us, it must appear to be real to us as we watch it, known as the verisimilitude effect. The story must therefore have verisimilitude - following the rules of continuity, temporal and spacial coherence. 

Sven Carlsson - (Narrative Essay)

Sven Carlsson
3 areas of narrative structure

Sven Carlsson suggests that music videos and videos in general fall into two rough groups. These groups are performance clips and conceptual clips. When a music video mostly shows the artist singing or dancing, it is classed as a performance clip. On the other hand, when the clip shows something else during its duration, whether this be a story, often with artistic ambitions, it is a conceptual clip. 

Performance clip

• If a music video clip contains mostly filmed performance, then it is a performance clip. A performance clip is a video that shows the vocalist in one or more settings. 
• Common places to perform include the recording studio and the rehearsal room. However, this performance can take place absolutely anywhere. Walking down the street is one of the main music videos cliches, and this is very common in rap videos. 
• The performance can be of 3 types: song performance, dance performance and instrumental performance. 
• Almost every music video includes song performance, and some combine song and dance performances.

Narrative clip

• If a music video clip is most appropriately understood as a short silent movie to a musical background, it is a narrative clip. A narrative clip contains no lip-synchronised singing.

Art clip

• If a music video clip contains no perceptible visual narrative and contains no lip synchronised singing then it is said to be a pure art clip.
• The main difference between a music video art clip and a contemporary artistic video is the music.
• While the music video uses popular music, the artistic video more often than not uses more modern, experimental music, such as electro acoustic music. 

Carlsson developed a mythical method of analysis of music video, centered on a 'modern mythic embodiment'. Viewed from this perspective the music video artist is seen as an embodying one, or a combination of modern mythic characters or forces, of which there are three general. The music video artist is representing different aspects of the free floating disparate universe of the music video.

• In one type of performance, the performer is not a performer anymore, he or she is a materialisation of the commercial exhibitionist.
• Another type of performance in the music video industry is that of the televised bard. He or she is a modern bard signing banal lyrics using television as a medium. The televised bard is a singing storyteller who uses actual on-screen images instead of inner, personal images. The greatest televised bards create audio-visual poetry.
• The third type of performer is the electronic shaman. Sometimes, the shaman is invisible and it is only her voice and rhythm that ancor the visuals. He or she often shifts between multiple shapes. At one moment, the electronic shaman animates dead objects or have a two-dimensional alter egos, much like in cartoon comics. Seconds later he or she is shifting through time and so on.

Bordwell and Thompson - Story and Plot (Narrative Essay)

Bordwell and Thompson
Story and Plot

Bordwell and Thompson (1997) offer two distinctions between story and plot which relate to diegetic world of the narrative which the audience actually see. They based this on Russian film theory:

• Fabula (story) is all about the events in the narrative that we see and infer. The fabula is defined as the chronological series of events that are represented or implied. 
• Syuzhet (plot) means that everything is visible and audibly present before us. Syuzhet is considered to be the order, manner and techniques of their presentation in the narrative.

Hypodermic Needle Theory (Audience Essay)

Hypodermic Needle Theory

The Hypodermic Needle Theory implied mass media had a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audiences. The mass media in the 1940s and 1950s were perceived as a powerful influence on behaviour change.

Several factors contributed to this strong effects theory of communication, including the fast rise and popularisation  of radio and television and the emergence of the persuasion industries, such as advertising.

• The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people indirectly and uniformly by 'shooting' or 'injecting' them with appropriate messages designed to trigger and desired response. 
• This theory suggests a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver.
• The hypodermic needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message. 
• It expresses the view that the media is a dangerous means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message. 
• People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot of media material shot at them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information.
• The theory assumes what we see or hear we believe and consume. The theory assumes we are brainwashed into believing the media messages. 

War of the Worlds

• In the 1930s, a radio broadcast of War of the Worlds was performed like a real news broadcast to heighten the effect of the story. Due to this people listening thought that the story was real and therefore assumed Mars had come to invade the world. 
• This demonstrates a passive audience and how an audience believes what they hear in the news, in particular how this can quickly lead to misinterpretation.
  

Cons of the theory:

• Very out of date and invalid
• Not everyone watches the news/consumes media in the same way
• Audiences are not simply passive - more up to date theories have proved this
• Technology has changed how we consume media and the sources where it originates from
• We are more aware of society and how institutions operate
• We are now so used to consuming media texts that we understand conventions and know when to reject messages if we deem them insignificant

Blulmer and Katz - Uses and Gratifications Theory (Audience Essay)

Blulmer and Katz
Uses and Gratifications Theory 

The uses and gratifications' model represented a change in thinking, as researchers began to describe the effects of media from the point of view of audiences. The model looks at the motives of the people who use the media, asking why we watch television programmes/films/media products in the way in which we do, why we bother to read newspapers for example, why we find ourselves so compelled to keep up to date with our favourite soap, or consume films. The theory makes the audience active as they choose what they want to consume, they are not forced into consumption, for example you only watch the films you want as you are in control of your choices. The media simply creates the product.

The theory argued that audience needs have social and psychological needs which generate certain expectations about the mass media and what they are exposed to. As the audience is the active participant it allows them to make choices in relation to what they consume making oneself in control of what they consume. This does assume an active audience making motivated choices making the audience in control of their own consumerism.

The 4 needs:

• The underlying idea behind the model is that people are motivated by a desire to fulfil or gratify certain needs. So rather than asking how the media uses us, the model asks how we use the media. The model is broken down into 4 different needs.

1. Surveillance
2. Personal Identity
3. Personal Relationships
4. Diversion

1. Surveillance

•   The surveillance need is based around the idea that people feel better having the feeling that they know what is going on around them. For example, we watch the news as we feel that it is a reliable source of information and it makes us feel secure that we know what is happening around us. 
• The surveillance model is all about awareness. We us the mass media to be more aware of the world, gratifying a desire for knowledge and security. 
• When we watch something that reassures the audience and the consumer becomes rather passive and accepting of what they are consuming.
• We use the media to be helpful in our every day activities.
• Social media can influence how this concept works as fake stories are created giving false senses of security.

2. Personal Identity

• Personal identity explains how being a subject of the media allows us to confirm the identity and positioning of ourselves within society.
• The use of the media for forming personal identity can be seen in music videos or films. Pop stars can often become big role models, inspiring young children everywhere. 
• Personal identity when consuming a media product allows us to associate and relate to the product directly making us fee gratified in one way or another, making us understand that we share our identities making us feel normal or accepted.
• Different genres allow people to identify in different ways to different elements.

3. Personal Relationships

• This section comes in two parts: relationships with the media and using the media within relationships. 
• We can form relationships within the media, and also use the media to form a relationship with others. 
• Many people use the television as a form of companionship.
• The television is often quite an intimate experience, and by watching the same people on a regular basis we can often feel very close to them, as if we even know them.
• When characters in a soap or film die, those who have watched that person a lot often grieve for their character, as if they have lost a friend.
• Another aspect to the personal relationships model is how we can sometimes use the media as a springboard to form and build upon relationships with real people. 
• Having a favourite TV programme in common can often be the start of a conversation, and can even makes talking to strangers much easier. 
• Some studies suggest that some families use sitting around watching the television as a simulus for conversation, talking to each other about the programme. 

4. Diversion

• The diversion need describes what's commonly termed as escapism - watching the television so we can forget about our own lives and problems for a while and think about something else. 
• We watch music videos/films to take our mind off everyday lives, we want to distract ourselves from the problems that we are personally experiencing. We want to see that people experience the same feelings that we do and want to forget about our own problems and focus on someone else's. 

Stuart Hall - Reception Theory (Audience Essay)

Stuart Hall
Reception Theory

The reception theory states that media texts ar encoded by the producer meaning that whoever produces the text fills the product with values and messages. The text  is then decoded by spectators. Different spectators will decode the text in different ways, however, these ways are not always in the way the producer intended. 

Dominant:

• The dominant reading of a text is that the audience view the media text in the way the producer intended.
• The audience agree with the ideology and message behind the text.
• The audience will view the message in the way the producer wanted them to.
• The ideal consumption has been met and therefore the institution is happy. 

How may an audience have a dominant understanding of a specific media text?

• Clear messages
• Audience is the same age so it relates to the product
• From the same culture
• Easy to understand narrative and they can relate to the narrative in some way
• Relevant to society
• Audience are choosing to consume the product so must have a reason to like it in the first place

Negotiated:

• This is a compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings.
• The audience accepts the views of the producer but also has their own input and understanding of the text.
• They do not agree or disagree, they however can see the point being made in relation to the reading yet still have their own opinion.
• For example, they understand what the institution want the message to be and how they are supposed to consume the text, however they do not fully conform with the message.

How may an audience have a negotiated understanding of a specific media text?

• The audience may not have had the same life experiences
• May not understand the narrative in relation so therefore cannot relate to it in the intended way
• Do not understand all of the messages making it unclear what the dominant reading is supposed to be

Oppositional:

• The audience rejects the preferred reading of the text and created their own.
• The audience reject the meaning fully as they do not agree with the message created for the audience.
• The audience reject the message fully and interoperate the text in the wrong way.
• They may be upset, offended and fail to see the intended message from the institution.

How many an audience have an oppositional understanding of a specific media text?

• The product has controversial themes
• Disagree with the messages in the video
• Dislike the genre
• No understanding/ cannot relate to the narrative structure
• Is not reflective of society
• Different cultures have different understandings

Essay 1 - Representation