MEDIA LANGUAGE

( C O N V E N T I O N A L F O R M , I N C L U D E S : C I N E M A T O G R A P H Y , M I S E - E N - S C E N E ,

E D I T I N G A N D S O U N D .

L I I A R A N A LY S I S )

GENERAL• Media language was an essential considered aspect when planning

for and constructing my media product. The term denotes ‘the codes and conventions’ of any media text, used to communicate themes and ideas to an audience.

• Primarily following the same basic principles as semiotics, media language also can be defined by “the science of signs”. This is seen through visual and contextual qualities covering the following aspects: genre, narrative, colour, text, image, audio sound and effects, odours, flavours, acts or objects with no meaning until the audience invests them with it.

• This works through the encoding of information by the institution for the audience to decode it. Iconic, Index and Symbolic signs are embedded into media outcomes open to individual interpretation from the viewer. These vary in subtlety for deliberate effect.

• This follows a theory proposed by Roland Barthes he called ‘semiotics’. Advancing upon this, John Fiske stated “denotation is what is photographed, connotation is how it is photographed”.

APPLICATION• These theories can be applied to my own media outcome

where signified meaning is derived from how images are assembled together for the audience to break-down and de-construct.

• An example of this within my product is establishment of scenery through suggestive montage sequence clips. From these brief aspects, the audience can infer the footage was undertaken in a coastal location, reflecting on idyllic lifestyle, further supported by the inclusion of the sports car.

• Additionally, a dreamy sense can be signified through transitional choices between clips, where images merge progressively and subtly creating a smooth, flowing visual product. This alters the effects of the video, suiting the nature of the audio through inferable aspects.

MEANING AND MESSAGE• Insight can be made into youth culture, where emotive

aspects are discreetly addressed and represented to the audience, enabling for self-clarification based upon personal experiences and situations. Actual meaning would vary between people, yet collaborative feelings of escapism and overcoming difficulty is a shared aspect relational to the intentional message portrayed through the media text.

• An example of how this could be interpreted is through woman’s rights; the lack of provocative clothing in the mise-en-scene choices and general imagery reflects upon the increase in self-respect of woman in younger societies. This is closely associated with personal value and acceptance which is a huge intentional interpretation, where emotive development and personality growth also hold major importance.

ROLAND BARTHES

• This is described as ideology; a combination of connotation and denotation, referred to by Roland Barthes as ‘Myth’. This is one of the key concepts of media language, along with:

• Language, • Institution, • Audience and • Representation.

LANGUAGE• ‘Language’ refers to content, theme and purpose obtained within the

media text. The mise-en-scene makes up the majority of this, equating for everything within the scene. Cinematography can alter the effect of this, dependent upon filmographic techniques used.

• For instance, through use of cinematography, the mise-en-scene is almost instantly revealed to the audience, displaying prominent elemental aspects such as the sports car and coastal scenes. This is presented within the initial sequence where clips have been collaborated into a montage sequence, an editorial choice deliberately chosen with intention of immediately engaging the audiences attention.

• This aspect of ‘language’ enables the creation of atmosphere achieved through conveyed ideas with regards to the mise-en-scene. Cinematography, editing and sound alter this effect, conventionally collaborating to build a specific theme.

• Within my product this is specifically apparent, where the song ties with themes of summer, love and lust directly through the lyrical meaning. Editing was used to assemble footage within a layered sequence while altering image qualities such as exposure, contrast, colour adjustment, etc, to ultimately achieve a visual suited to the soft, yet powerful nature of the song, while also matching the chosen summer themes imagery.

LANGUAGE –CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Various cinematographic techniques were used to record footage, with intention of altering typical perceptive. These effects are as follows:

• Camera Shots:A large variety of different camera shots were used to alter placement of aspects within the scene. For instance mid-shots were used to provide a certain balance between detail within the subject and activity being carried out here, while establishment shots were used to display scenic aesthetics relative to the theme/ purpose of the video, while long shots were used to place the subject into the mise-en-scene, showing total collaboration. Examples of this are displayed below:

Mid Close-Up Establishment Shot Long Shot

LANGUAGE –CINEMATOGRAPHYCamera Shots:It can be noticed that there is a lack of close ups used within my music video. This represents the fact that the video is not commercially exhibitionist, and instead is driven by meaning rather than image. Aesthetics of the product hold a particular importance aside from this artist image, where creation of mise-en-scene and portrayal of the imagery through cinematography and editing impact the effectivity of the message. For example, creation of idyllic imagery is dependent upon this relating directly and effectively to ‘the American Dream’.

LANGUAGE –CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Camera Angles:These were also varied to ensure result of my footage was interesting, intriguing and diverse. Examples of some camera angles used in my video include: low angle, eye-line match, straight shot, and high angle. These alter the way in which the scene appears, making the subjects look differently in terms or proportion. For instance, the low angle below makes Becca appear bigger and more prominent within the scene, exaggerating her singing in this part, while the high angle makes Becca and Jack look smaller, reducing a complicated structural society and hierarchy of media down to a basic sense, reminiscing upon past times from childhood where these aspects were not necessary or important. Eye-line matches were used for shots where the lyrics were sung, enabling

Low Angle High Angle Eye-line Match

LANGUAGE –CINEMATOGRAPHY• Camera Positioning/ Framing:

Based upon substantial research, camera framing was greatly considered when shooting my video footage. This was due to the fact that different framing can result in different message; larger frame sizes were used for the establishment shots in order to record as much intricate detail as possible making the scenes look larger and more dramatic, while smaller frame sizes were used when filming the artist, inducing prominence within the scene.

• Examples of each of these are displayed below, with the addition of a third image showing contrast between the two in an edited, layered format.

• Throughout my video, multiple scenes were used with various lighting to illustrate meaning. These scenes include: Bridlington beach, a coastal roads, a lake, the underpass tunnel, casino, my garden, Brough haven, and some previous holiday footage. These locations were selected to induce collaboration in interpretational message; each of the locations can be indirectly associated with activities appealing to youth culture and my target audiences interests.

• Additionally, lighting was used skilfully in order to create the illusion of a single day; a sunrise opens the video while a sunset ends it. This means lighting of certain scenes needed to be greatly considered in order for this to work.

• Samples of these locations used in my video are displayed below:

LANGUAGE –MISE-EN-SCENE (LOCATION & LIGHTING)

• The use of props within my video strengthened the ideas surrounding intentional interpretation. Props were selected relative to activities of interest to my intended target audience. These props are as follows:

LANGUAGE –MISE-EN-SCENE (PROPS)

Probably one of the most obvious prop used in my video, essential to create link between lyrical meaning and visual identity, building the idea of idyllic reality. A retro camera. Used to create a slight indie touch, exaggerating the previously discussed effect of contrasting modern day society with past times.BMX. Used specifically to link the content with the interests of the target audience, these being teenagers and young adults.

A children’s toy car in the casino/ slots. Humorous interpretation of the lyrics, enabling engagement of the audience.

Smoke grenades. Used for aesthetic effect generating visually interesting visuals, maintaining the audiences focus.Fire pit. Symbolic for power, confidence, and content. Builds good, friendly atmosphere.

LANGUAGE –MISE-EN-SCENE (COSTUME)

Jack

Becc

a

Me

• Costume choices were pre-planned, noted in my casting post. These outfits were chosen to be deliberately dark to provide contrast with the backdrops the characters were presented in. The lightness of my jacket shows me to be the actual artist through differentiation which is important for music videos.

• These outfits are associable with modern day youth culture through incorporation of fashion trends. These represent the ideologies of todays society.

• Editorial process are vital to the success of any media product, holding potential of completely changing the way in which the audience interprets the product and message behind it.

• For example, my product is cut up into small clips, matched to the rhythm, nature and beat of the music. This draws the visual and audio together, making it feel like a realistic, complete product. This is known as rhythmic editing and can be seen throughout my whole video.

• The application of transitions is an editorial technique used consistently throughout my video to induce consistency. ‘Cross fade’ was applied to the beginning and ends of many of my videos to enable smooth transformation between clips. This transitional effect was replicated so many times due to its effectivity and success in suiting the nature of the music, inducing an intentional dreamy effect. Still image examples of this are presented below:

LANGUAGE –EDITING

• Glitch effects were used throughout my video to separate footage, These were used to deliberately reference a retro iconography, contrasted with modern scenes and fashion trends.

• At the end of the video, the illusion of an old fashioned tape recorder playback is created through collaboration of sound and image edited together. The battery signs exaggerate this theme, used previously towards the beginning of the video. For this initial low battery sign, I hand drew the component and edited it on Photoshop before importing it for editing. To make this work, I had to sample a sound from another external product and layer it with this visual; a complicated process achieving a successful effect.

• Some of these additive effects are displayed below:

LANGUAGE –EDITING

INSTITUTION• The institution makes choices dependent upon the

effect they desire to communicate to the audience. • Within my video I chose to construct a predominantly

performance based outcome centred around a theme of aesthetics and visuals. This was chosen in support of the music type, relative to the interests and aspirations of my target audience, achieved through choices of mise-en-scene previously discussed. A collaboration of abstract film work was combined with performance to induce maximum visual impact and enable potential for subjectivity, where the viewer can interpret message within the product relative to their own personal ideas and experiences.

INSTITUTION• Most institutions producing music videos have a large organisation of

people working on separate aspects which all come together to form the planning and research, production and review. Because of this, these music videos are constructed under a large budget by skilful professional employers, making it hard to match this outcome quality.

• I undertook some preparatory stages in my planning and research stages to ensure the outcome of my product was as successful and realistic as possible. These stages included; research of conventional form, research of genre conventions, audience research and demographics, creation of identity and branding, casting, completion of a production plan and shooting schedule, storyboarding and conducting a series of test shots to maintain control of progression, conventionality and ensure the project would go to plan.

• These aspects of planning are documented previously on this blog.

IDEOLOGY AND REPRESENTATION• This was majorly considered when making representation choices for

inclusion within my video. • For instance, the knowledge of voyeurism in the media was a principle

indirectly referenced within my product due to the knowledge that the audience know about this, and therefore defying this concept. In this sense, it can be said that the product is self-reflexive; it is aware of its presence in the digitalised world - aware that it exists as a media text.

• Other representative themes displayed within the product are desirability, idealism, love and lust, and escapism. These each derive through the use of signs and signifiers, allowing for individual interpretation dependent upon relevance in ones life. These are incorporated through use of mise-en-scene and editorial techniques, surrounding the original, broad meaning of the lyrics. This therefore enables the product to appeal to a wider audience, and strengthens the viewers active engagement when watching the visual outcome.

• These choices were conduced based upon audience research, bringing about the realisation of the demographic profiles of the songs target audience. Following findings that this audience is strongly centred around teenagers and young adults, relevant themes were selected appealing to these particular social groups.

AUDIENCE• As briefly mentioned, choices were made to meet the

needs of the targeted viewers to ensure all aspects of the video appeal to them.

• Knowledge of this initially resulted from demographic research, categorising the typical viewers as follows:

APPLICATION OF THIS• This research was essential to ensure that the nature

of the product suited the maturity of the audience, resulting in intentional understanding of meaning to be met, and for interpretational signifiers to be understood. Success of this is critical, as this equates for a large proportion of the audiences engagement, focus and interest.

• Themes of desirability, idealism, love and lust, and escapism were chosen specifically to relate to this particular audience, as these are aspects equating for a large proportion of this generation’s everyday lives and generic aspirations.