Tuesday 22 December 2015

Feminist stand point

An initial idea I have for my music video is to produce it with the artist appearing independent and strong, and seen to challenge ideas of the power bloc that women cannot be this. Thus I intend to challenge these ideas and produce my music video from a feminist standpoint.

This standpoint features in many past, strong, female artists, and given Beyonce's brand is similar to these, I hope to feature shots and scenes which show the female in a positive light. For example, previous work by Nicki Minaj - Super Bass (below) features shots of Nicki, mainly alone but at her level, not low angle shots which are often shown for women. These shots make the audience see her as the one in control; the subject, rather than the object (Simone de Beauvoir, 1949). She is also shown with men, but these appear as her inferior, as she plays with them as if they are just her fun, not in control of her. However, the lyrics of the song, suggest stereotypes of women being in love and chasing the men, which goes against the other feminist points the song uses.



I want my actor who will play the role of Beyonce to appear as in control, and powerful. Along with the lyrics of the song, which show Beyonce to be partly in control of the relationship. Thus, I will play on these lyrics in the way the actions are choreographed. For example, In Nicki Minaj's - Moment 4 Life. In this shot, Nicki is shown in royal colours of gold and the location behind her also appears grande. It gives connotations based on her being in another room of the house, that she owns this house, which goes against the ideas that women are not workers and are reliant on men. However, the song focuses on how she could gain a man's attention, which reinforces how women are dependent on men and shows men as superior (Germaine Greer, 1970).



Although at the same time, my artist will be shown to be embracing her femininity. Thus, a large focus will be put onto make-up, hair and clothing, not only as a way to target the audience, but a way to show her still as feminine. For example, in Jennifer Lopez - I'm Into You, it shows her in various make-up levels, ranging from bare to full glam (as shown below). In order to show my artist as interested in clothing, but not appear too attention seeking, I will not use overly revealing clothing as a way to gain attention, instead I will use her dance moves as a way for her to steal the attention, unintentionally. I will need to consider what type of eye make-up I will use in order to fit with the pop/ R&B genre. 





Friday 11 December 2015

Changing the song length

This is the original video/ song version which I decided to use which was slightly different to the audio which Beyonce used in her video of Love on Top. The verse beginning 'I can hear the wind whipping past my face' was a verse I was interested in including as the majority of the song repeats a similar chorus and so having a new verse would spark new ideas for actions for Stefi to follow.



After 2:54 the song repeats the chorus 4 times before finishing, thus I cut the song from 2:54 to 3:54 to gain the key change at the end of the song whilst not repeating the chorus too many times. I used a programme called Audacity, and the process can be seen below.









Thus, the new lyrics: 

Bring the beat in!

Honey, honey
I can see the stars all the way from here
Can't you see the glow on the window pane?
I can feel the sun whenever you're near
Every time you touch me I just melt away

Now everybody asks me why I'm smiling out from ear to ear (They say love hurts)
But I know (It's gonna take a little work)
Nothing's perfect, but it's worth it after fighting through my tears
And finally you put me first

Baby it's you.
You're the one I love.
You're the one I need.
You're the only one I see.

Come on baby it's you.

You're the one that gives your all.
You're the one I can always call.
When I need you make everything stop.
Finally you put my love on top.

Ooh! Come on baby.
You put my love on top, top, top, top, top.
You put my love on top.
Ooh oooh! Come on baby.
You put my love on top, top, top, top, top.
My love on top.
My love on top.

Baby, Baby
I can hear the wind whipping past my face.
As we dance the night away.
Boy your lips taste like a night of champagne.
As I kiss you again, and again, and again and again.

Now everybody asks me why I'm smiling out from ear to ear (They say love hurts)
But I know (It's gonna take a little work)
Nothing's perfect, but it's worth it after fighting through my tears.
And finally you put me first.

Baby it's you.
You're the one I love.
You're the one I need.
You're the only one I see.
Come on baby it's you.
You're the one that gives your all.
You're the one I can always call.
When I need you make everything stop.
Finally you put my love on top.

Oh! Baby.
You put my love on top, top, top, top, top.
You put my love on top.
Oh Oh! Come on baby.
You put my love on top, top, top, top, top.
My love on top.

Baby.
'Cause you're the one that I love.
Baby you're the one that I need.
You're the only one I see.
Baby, baby, it's you.
You're the one that gives your all.
You're the one I always call.
When I need you everything stops.

Finally you put my love on top. (not heard) 




Thursday 10 December 2015

Character profile

Name: Stefi Cuffaro
Age: 18
Role: Act as Beyonce discussing her position within her relationship.
Personality: Warm, positive, confident, independent, empowered, happy, outspoken and determined.
Relationship status: In a relationship.
                                                                                                                                                                   




Friday 4 December 2015

Selena Gomez - Victoria's Secret lip sync



I recently saw this video posted by Victoria's Secret, as Selena performed at their most recent fashion show. The video shows my idea concerning a main artist featuring as well as friends lip syncing a variety of parts of the video. This is not an extremely serious take of this video as it is more of a promotional activity for Selena and Victoria's Secret, this is why the girls are shown in underwear and on the beach which shows off their brand and its ideology. In my video I hope to give it a more professional value with plain backgrounds and Beyonce (Stefi) performing in more traditional artist locations e.g. dance rooms, stages with microphones.

It is noticeable that this video only features women, which is a direction I will consider taking my own video in. Given that Beyonce's message in business and in life for women is to be independent and powerful because of being a female, and a title to one of her songs being 'Run the world (Girls)' it seems appropriate to take the song in this direction. To do this I will need all of the extra actors lip syncing to be female as well as the main artist to be female. It will give a bigger underlying message of feminist views and female power in our changing world. This may need to be shown in locations I will film in where women are not expected e.g. offices or powerful positions. I can also show this message through the clothing Stefi and all other girls are wearing as being powerful in the colours, which in Beyonce's case are red, gold and white, however, as I am trying to add a pop element I may include bright colours of pink and purple.