Semiotics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnxpdUdD0Ro&feature=related

The link above is a foreign ad above AIDS awareness. By using Semiotics, we can further analyze what it means.

Under denotation, it shows a man and a woman having sex. And later the man turns into and appears to be Hitler.

Under connotation, many messages are sent. One is that you are similar to Hitler if you have sex with someone if you have AIDS or if you irresponsibly have sex. This is because of the common fact/history of Hitler.

Style in Music Videos

Lately, in my music video class, style has been a very important subject. We have observed different styles of music and video such as: gothic, hard rock, classic rock, rap, and country. Each style determines the structure, content, and audience of the music video.

Perhaps the most important function of a music video is the commercial aspect. Music videos, like much other things, are a way to advertise and make money. Therefore, the commercial aspect of the video reflects very much on the style. Some important artists that take advantage of this aspect are: Morse, Jhally, Levy, and Aufderhide; and each artist has an intention to publicize their music video.

While all these artists have the same overall purpose, their approach is slightly different. Morse and Jhally see music television as a perfect medium to advertise and boost sales. Moreover, Levy seems to have the same approach; however, Levy seems to focus on demographics to advertise the most effective product and to attract the particular demographic to that item. For example, if Dove was advertising soap in a rap music video, Dove would not advertise their product with an elderly man or woman, for this would be ineffective to the certain demographic, which is typically late teen and young adult man and women. However, Dove would use the same age group as the music video’s watching demographics. These aspects of advertising make the music video different, thus determining the video’s style.

Another form of style in relation to advertising in music videos comes from Adferhide. Aufderhide seems to follow the style of Levy. However, Aufderhide seems to target his audience based on political values. This seems perfect because the audience of music television seems to be young and new voters. This is why the “Choose or Lose” campaign has started.
Overall, style is based on “the aesthetic, generative process”. Mostly, the aesthetic fields which are:

-Light and Color
-Two-dimensional space
-Three-dimensional space
-Time & motion
-Sound

These aspects determine the style of the video and duplicate a style, one must follow the fields in their style above by: Repeating, Amplifying, and repudiating. If one follows this process, their music video should be effective and original even though most aspects are repeated.

The effects of Music Videos on Myself and Society

When you watch MTV today, you surprisingly may not find many music videos playing like MTV had long ago. However, music videos are still popular today on outlets such as Youtube and itunes. These music videos are still being played every day even though MTV does not. In addition, these videos play an important role in society in the way it influences us and in the way the visual actions interpret the music and lyrics.

When you listen to music, most of the time it may be on the radio or stereo. In other words, you do not usually watch music videos when you listen to music. However, I argue that by watching a music video, it changes one’s experience with that particular song from that point on. The visual aspect of the music video can change how one views the song. For example, a song may seem upbeat and exciting when listened to on the radio. However, the visual aspect of the music video may suggest a morbid and sad feeling that contradicts one’s previous opinions. Then, when listening to the song on the radio again, the same individual may not seem so excited and upbeat about the video. Personally, whenever I watch a music video, the video is instilled into my head from that point on. Then, whenever I listen to the song without the visual aspect, like perhaps on a car stereo, the music video is played in my mind while the music is played. The music video affects me far after I am done watching it and makes me feel different the next time I hear the same song, based on the visual aspect alone.

The same can be said for how the visual aspect of the video affects the meaning of the lyrics. For myself, I do not usually listen or pay attention to lyrics. I usually focus on the overall beat and melody. However, I find it hard to ignore the lyrics when a music video is being played. Perhaps because the artist may be speaking with the lyrics or the video is visually relating with the lyrics. I believe that a music video has all control of interpreting the lyrics. For example, Kevin Williams writes in “Why I [Still] Want My MTV” about a music video and the images presented. One lyric is “Right now, nothing is more expensive than regret” (150). However, the music video further interprets these otherwise confusing lyrics by showing an image, “A rolled condom appears bathed in light” (150). This reveals the true meaning of the lyrics that, without the visual aspect, could be left to be interpreted into anything.

The final aspect that, in my opinion, affects society today is the influences of dress, fashion, and actions that the music video expresses. I argue that this is based on mostly the visual aspect because the lyrical aspect alone can be interpreted by the visual aspect. Nevertheless, actions in the music video highly influence myself and society. For instance, “shutter shades” are glasses famously worn by Kayne West. The glasses offer no useful value. Rather, they are just fashionable because West wears them in his music videos and performances. The same can be said for clothing and many different types of fashions. Even the actions artists perform in their music videos influence society. For example, various dances such as the cupid shuffle or the “duggie”. Particular brands of products can be used in music videos that influence others to use the same because it was in the video.

Overall, I believe music videos have a direct affect on my life and society’s. The visual aspect effects the music’s meaning which affects how we listen to it and the feelings and emotions we get. Also, our fashion and actions are influenced based on the actions of the video.

Realism in Music Videos

When watching television, such as the news or talk shows, one might notice that programs seem to be presented in a live format, meaning they seem like they could be live at that moment even though we may know it is not. This “realism” is portrayed in various television programs and most programs are expected to follow this rule. In my opinion, this is an attempt to convince the viewer that he or she is actually at the event living the moment. For example, if a news program was presenting a news story of a house fire, the news program would use anything they have from the fire scene to make the viewer feel like he or she was there: sound clips of the fire, people standing around, sounds of sirens, visuals of flashing lights and fire hoses, and interviews from witnesses. I’m sure if the news program could somehow make the television burning hot and smoking so viewers could feel the fire, they would. This example can be said for many other television programs. But, this is because the events actually happened in real time and in front of a real audience. However, music videos are usually never filming in front of a live audience and it is never filmed in real time. The music video must now seem like a real live event. Music videos have the freedom, now to be prepared and film as a live event; an advantage that most television programs do not have.

When you view a music video that portrays realism, you may feel that you are actually seeing the band, live in front of you. However, this is not mainly true. Most music videos are filmed in front of a limited number of people (the film crew) and are never filmed in a live format. (meaning, if the music video is four minutes long, it did not take the band four minutes to film) Each shot is usually done carefully and separately. Kevin Williams states in “Why I [Still] Want My MTV” , “To establish this realism the technical and aesthetic aspects of television are rendered as invisible as possible through conventional modes of presentation that construct the appearance of being live” So, what techniques make music videos seem like a realistic and live event?

One is timing. By timing, I mean the timing of the video in relation to the soundtrack. For example, if there is a strong and steady bass beat in the music video, the drummer footage has to appear in sync with the audio. So, the bass hits should be perfect with the audio track. Without this synchronization, the video would fail to appear live in action and the fact that the video was not filmed live would be more prominent, distracting and turning-off the viewer.

Another aspect is details. This was not in my readings, but I feel like it should still be mentioned. I feel that continuity in filming is important, and if an error with this is found in the video, it can, again, turn-off and distract the viewer. For example, if the drummer is not holding drum sticks, or if the guitarist’s shirt was buttoning in one shot and un-buttoned in other. These details matter and can make or break a music video.

I argue that these techniques of making a music video seem real do not complicate filming a music video, but frees it from traditional television. Most television programs will not have a chance to go back and change a certain shot, because the real event was already filmed and in most cases, you cannot change reality such as a crime scene. However, music videos have to freedom to carefully craft each shot to appear real in however fashion or style it chooses.

Music Video Update

As said before, this semester at Shepherd University, I am expected to plan, shoot, direct, edit, and produce a music video for a mass communications course. I have been making great progress on the planning of the music video and I already have a strong script prepared for the shoot. The music video I will produce is titled “The Heart Break” by a local band in Hagerstown, MD that calls themselves: Matinee at Midnight. “The Heart Break” is a great rock song and can be found on the following link: www.battleofthebands.com/u/matineeatmidnight . Please note that “The Heart Break” is the second song on the playlist. The song contains a series of repeating lyrics including “I can’t take a Heart Break. I can’t make, can’t make the same mistake.” From these and more lyrics, it is obvious that the song is about a refusal of a potential relationship in order to prevent heartache or a ”heart break”. Therefore, my music video should reflect on this aspect.

According to my rough script, most shots are of the band simply playing on a stage with fast shots and interesting views. However, while the band is playing, there is no audience expect for one fan, which is a very attractive women in the front row. Near the first minute of the video she is seen flirting with the lead singer. Later in the song, the lead singer leaves the stage and continues singing. The flirting women continues to make eye contact with each member of the band until each member leaves the stage. (the music continues, but they are singing the chorus instead) Perhaps, the band members could be singing to the girl “I can’t make the same mistake” to then give further meaning to the lyrics, suggesting that “the same mistake” was made by one of the other members in the past. In the last portion of the video, the members re-enter the stage after the attractive women leaves the location and music video.

Altogether, I believe I have a strong script that will help to produce an entertaining music video. Also, the script very much relates to the song mood and lyrics.

Effect of Dove Ad Campaign

On the left is an image of perhaps the most well known ad of the Dove campaign. It is an image of a women seperated down the middle. The right side of the picture is her natural self with out make up or digital work, while the left side of the picture is her with makeup, hair work, and lots of photoshop work. The ad shows how distorted our look of beauty can be. Although the campaign exposes these truths and is considered a "feel good" campaign, I argue that the campaign serves an effective way of selling products. The campaign shows that normal women: young, old, flawed, or not; can use these products and they are made for them. In my opinion, other ad campaigns that show over-the-top models using these products, could turn off women to the products because they believe it is not for them because of their flaws. However, Dove expresses an opening to these women that others do not.

Semiotic Ad Analysis

On the left, you can see an image of a group of sperm cells in a triangle pattern with one distinct cell emphasized. This one cell has a mustache and hair much like that of Adolf Hitler's. The ad's intention is to show how devastating a single sperm can be to one's life and increase the demand for protect from a sperm such as the one in the ad. Thus, the ad increases the demand for condoms. However, why are these characteristics understood and expressed this way? There are several ways the ad expresses in terms of Semiotics: The large swarm of sperm is the signifier. It signifies a large chance of the sperm reaching its destination. Thus, creating fear for the reader. The swarm is also shaped like a triangle, which suggests an offense stance. Of course, the most obvious signifier is the hair on the emphasized sperm in front. The hair signifies that the sperm is evil and bad. This is understood because the hair style is identical to Alolf Hitler's and culture identifies with the hair style and projects Hilter's actions to the sperm cell. This emphasizes the damage a cell can do to one's life, further showing the importance of a condom.