Costumes and Props

Character Name: Royce
Costume:Christmas jumper, black jeans, beanie, and a white t-shirt	Props:
Character Name:michael
Costume: wooly jumper, beanie, black jeans and a white t-shirt	Props:
Character Name:girl
Costume: matching christmas jumper, jeans and heels	Props:

1st Production meeting

The first production meeting did go well, as we were able to decide what type of music video we wanted and where is should be done. As well as identifying the risks that may occur when we film our music video, and how to avoid them. 

Gaining Permission

We manged to get a reply from Excellent, they were fine with us using their song.

Excellent Gentlemen lyrics

Verse 1

From the time that we met baby

I could tell you had things that a guy like me needs

You didn’t have to front to make an impression

Though my feelings followed you through a natural progression

Now you hold all my dreams inside this too/tool

So I wish I could lay beside/inside of you

It’s your personality that I miss when you’re gone

So strong I gotta sing a song

Baby x 4

Chorus

Girl this is just to show I care about you

And you can guess these things that I wanna do with you

Wish that it could be that you were here with me

Baby you gotta believe

Verse 2

I didn’t know baby

The effect of your love on me

Don’t you know I still see the light?

No matter how far apart we could be

Chorus. 

Artist profile

Excellent Gentleman

Band Members: Jefferson Sechs, Steveland Swatkins, David Valentine, Dominic Phenomenal and PJ Snaxx
Genre: R&B/Soul/Funk
Location: Oregon, America
Been Active Since: 2009 


Excellent Gentlemen plays danceable, vocal soul r&b music. Think '70s block parties and the foundations of golden-age hip-hop records. Their music stands for positivity, love, happiness and getting sexy; this is definitely NOT the drudgery of mediocre Indie-Rock. Their adopted home of Portland, OR has welcomed with open arms the injection of real live dance party music played by real live musicians. On the strength of their incredible live show, the independently-run band has ignited an adoring fan base and has become the hot touring funk act in the Pacific Northwest.

Blog 8: Star Theory Richard Dyer

Richard Dyer says that artists are made through artificial images such as advertising, films, magazines and music. Claiming that consumers prefer artists to portray their true emotions and not be be made into an fake image by their record labels. Record labels have to market their artists into the different target audiences that suits them all individually.


Dyers main theory is that artist are trendsetters, who get their audience to copy their images. From their hair style to the way they dress. Cultural and religious beliefs can also gain the artist more audiences, if they are shared.  Personal lives of the artist, which has been made easier to access by the media, shows them as real people which makes them easier to be related to their audiences. 

Kanye West is an example of this, as back in 2008 he brought shutter shades into trend, which everyone knew him for. These shades were the highlight of his Glow in the Dark tour. Everyone was wearing these shades in different colours. Although Kanye West got his influence from Sho'Nuff, Kanye was the one who made it mainstream at least for 6 months straight.

Stars then support hegemony and the dominant ideology of society. Gramsci who is known for his cultural hegemony theory, says how the different states use their mainstream cultural institutions to control their power in a capitalist society. 

The music industry makes and promotes different artists in different genres to act according to the genre stereotype, this could also relate to their gender and race. 



The female identity issues are raised when it comes to Britney Spears, in pop music. As she was viewed a a role model for teenage girls. Britney's identity as a female was automatically placed in the male dominated industry, which showed her as a stereotype of femininity. 'Girle iconography' surrounded Britney when she was first known in the pop industry. With stereotypical female things such as make-up, dolls and hanging out, the teenage pigtails added to the innocent school girl image. her choreographed dance routines made you want to be a part of her gang.

However it can be argued that the innocence being shown is being manipulated into sexuality. Meaning she is being actually being exploited, and it isn’t empowering but degrading. 

Laura Mulvey's theory on the male gaze criticises that women are sexualised by males through the male gaze. Men are active while females are oppressed and seen as passive. The audience are forced to identify with the male gaze, which leads on to the triple gaze. 

Britney Spears overprotected, represents how she feels with the music industry. She feels overprotected in the sense that she doesn't have the freedom to do what she wants. As in what actually happens in her music career. This song was made in way to express that she is grown now and not naive anymore. She is aware of things, although still blames the music industry for the reason that she has been sheltered, it can be seen as empowering. From a gender perspective, Britney’s identity has been placed within a male-dominated industry that manufactures limited stereotypes of femininity. 

Constructed as role model in “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman”from film “Crossroads”. Rites of passage story explores tensions of growing up and passage journey from childish innocence to realities of adult life. This again shows how much she has grown up from the innocent girl the audience knew her as, to the almost woman she has become. 

This song is an example of innocence versus sexuality. The messages in this video isn't confused, as it states that again Britney isn't a young innocent girl any more. As she is doing what she wants, which is breaking a guys heart and shes having fun with it. She is warning everyone, especially men to be careful around her and not to be deceived by her past.  This is all shown through her lyrics that state 'i'm not that innocent'.  She is both being exploited and exploiting, as through her lyrics you can see that she uses her girlie cuteness to trap and hurt her lovers, she is exploiting her power over men in a bad way although it does benefit her and her sexuality. Although she is being exploited, again, through the use of the male gaze. As she is using her sexuality and body to grab the males attention. To spread her message across. When it comes to gender debates, Britney Spears’s Music Videos are a polysemic text that can be read in a number of different ways with multiple meanings. Her career has evolved from ‘Teen Princess’ with connotations of innocence and girliness to a half-naked woman who performs for a patriarchal male audience. Both identities are stereotypical visions of femininity as presented in a range of media texts.

Blog 7: Creating a brand

The aim of creating a brand is to:

Advertise
Illustrate a song
Appeal to a visual audience
Expresses an individual’s emotions
Tells a story
Market an image

In the mid-1990s Bob Herbert, Chris Herbert and Lindsey Casbon set about creating a girl group to compete with the mainstream boy bands that dominated the pop music scene in the mid- to late-1990s. They placed an advertisement in The Stage trade magazine asking if any 18–23 years old had the ability to sing and dance. As well as being streetwise, outgoing, ambitious, and dedicated. 

The spice girls clothes were all chosen for their first appearance on Americasn TV, on purpose:

• Victoria in a sophisticated slinky black number
• Emma in a baby-pink dress
• Mel B in her leopard-skin trousers
• Geri in red hot pants, top and bra
• Mel C in her favourite Liverpool shirt and tracksuit bottoms 

The Spice Girls were sold to us as a group of friends, just goofing off and making top-selling singles together.  Although in fact they were all strangers, who were picked after hundreds of auditions for a reason. They had endless merchandising and sponsorship deals, and were involved with everything from Pepsi ads to Polaroid ads to Barbie-style Spice Girls dolls.Everything about them, including their Scary/Posh/Sporty/etc. nicknames was under the control of men or corporations. Geri Halliwell “Ginger Spice” almost didn't make it into the group, because she looked older than the other girls. She used the male gaze in order to get into the group. 

Lady Gaga and Adele are two different types of artists. 

Lady Gaga who used to be a stage performer, was noticed by Akon through her vocal abilities and helped her sign a joint deal with Interscope Records and his own KonLive Distribution. Gaga rose to prominence with her debut album The Fame with global chart-topping singles such as "Just Dance" and "Poker Face".


Gaga is remembered by her flamboyant and diverse contributions to the music industry via her fashion, live performances, and music videos. June 2014 she is one of the best-selling musicians of all time. Her achievements include five Grammy Awards, 13 MTV Video Music Awards, and 11 Guinness World Records. She regularly appears on Billboard's Artists of the Year lists and Forbes' power and earnings rankings, and was named one of the world's most influential people by Time in 2010. 

Adele started singing at the age of four, that she became obsessed with voices. Adele states that the Spice Girls had a major influence in regard to her love and passion for music, saying that they made her who she is today. West Norwood is where Adele's first record, "Hometown Glory", written when she was 16. She later became interested in R&B artists such as Aaliyah, Destiny's Child and Mary J. Blige. Adele graduated from the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon where she credits the school with nurturing her talent. She is soulful artist with meaningful lyrics, compared to  Lady Gaga.