WELCOME MODERATOR

Welcome moderator to my A2 Media Production blog. Below you can view my three final products, the music video, the Digi-pack and the magazine advert.
The blog itself will demonstrate the process of planning and developing these products. My evaluation questions can be found in the pages at the top of the blog.

Max Day: 9092
Claremont Fan Court School: 64680
April 2014
Brief: To create a promotional music video with accompanying ancillary products

Finished music video

Finished album

Finished magazine advert

CONSTRUCTION: DESIGNING THE DIGI-PACK

To keep close to the style and imagery of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as creating an image that revolves around the song Californication - I decided to create a satirical image of a red pepper using a map of the state of California.

This was the map that I found on google images, I then colored it in Photoshop, redrew the top to make it a stalk and added the title text, which was part of a font that I found online.

The idea behind this image was to create a sense of almost comic like artistry - to show that my representation of the song is not mean to be taken in a very serious manner again reflecting the attitude of the RHCP.

RESEARCH: EXISTING ALBUM COVERS

Using scoopit, I have collected a number of well known album covers so see anything htat they may hav ein common or features that they all use visually.

Click HERE to view this scoopit

RESEARCH: ANALYSING DIGI-PACKS

Click HERE to view my slideshare on album covers

RESEARCH: DIGIPACK RESEARCH

click HERE to see my pinterest on existing music magazines

CONSTRUCTION: EDITING SNAP-BACK SHOT

For our latest shoot, which involved us taking many shots of the group wearing snap-back hats at different angles, we used the new app Flipagram, to make a stop motion video of all the shots that were taken.

Flipagram allows you to add as many photos as you like to the video, as well as editing how long each transition is.

A music feature is also available for background sounds, and you can chose from a wide range of tracks, old and new, to play in the background


Here is an example of the stop motion video we made using Flipagram

CONSTRUCTION: SNAP-BACK SCENE

On Tuesday 14th January I and my group went Esher and location scouted for possible places to shoot our snap-back scene.

The idea behind this shoot was to emphasise the American and Hollywood obsession with product and materialism that is referred to in the lyrics of Californication. This ties in with Adorno's theory of a culture industry that is designed to feed the general population petty materials and products to keep them happy and brain-dead.

After location scouting, we now had three locations that were ideal for the scene - a small common, a private road and against an all white wall. The shoot consist of us three standing in different locations in a profile position. To represent the materialism we decided to use snap-back hats because they are currently a very popular fashion item and are quite an expensive item of clothing that is not a necessity. The scene features us all wearing these snap-backs, but in every photo the position of the hat will change while we remain still. The photos will form a montage in our video to represent the materialism of Californication.

EDITING PROCESS

In today's lesson we made use of the photos of the snap-back scene that we took on Tuesday afternoon.

We began by selecting all the best photos from our various shoots and cropping them all down to the same size, making sure to cut out any unnecessary background. These pictures will form a montage in our music video so it is important that they are all the same relative size.

After they had been cropped we put the images into photo-shop to be layered and defined to bring out better colour contrast and lighting effects. The end results have been put into a flipagram slideshow

FILMING: BAND PERFORMANCE SCENES

On the 19th of November, I and my group were able to fill the first major scene that would be featured in our music video. We decided to use our school gymnasium as it is very large giving us plenty of space to film as well as use lighting and props.

We were able to use our friend Huw Carey as our drummer whilst Elliot and I played guitar and bass/vocals respectively. Ellie was on the main cameras and we also borrowed Huw's GoPro camera for the shoot so we had someone experienced to help us with filming and positioning. Ellie used two cameras to gain a variety of shots and experiment with different angles and lighting combinations to try and get the most professional looking shots we could.

This was the basic setup for the instruments and the cameras. We had one that would shoot face on and a second that would shoot low and at angles. The drum-kit took center stage and me and Elliot stood at either side to distribute the screen time as evenly as possible.

Unbeknownst to us we had access to a smoke machine which our teacher was able to get for us. We used this to add depth to our lighting when filming to create some very dark and creative shots. The fact that we could utilize the large gymnasium meant the smoke dissipated evenly and quickly so we were not completely hidden in smoke while on camera.

This is me striking a pose in conjunction with the smoke machine, we had not used the lights at this point so as to try and preserve the bulbs, but we were able to get a sense of how the camera would react to the sue of smoke and how we would appear. As you can see the effect gives an edge to what might have otherwise been a bland photo.

Here we are utilizing the GoPro to get closeup shots of us playing our instruments. We decided to film the scenes with the GoPro first as it was one of the easiest shots to set up.
Huw simply held the camera in place and we adjusted the angle to get different shots. We did not fix it to the instruments as we did not have the clamp attachment for the camera and holding it in place allowed us to move the camera freely and try different positions on the instruments to see which yielded the best result.










This was the Camera we used to film the front facing shots. Its a Canon 100 and we used it primarily to film the front facing shots as it was attached to a higher tripod and had a better zoom capacity than Ellie's camera which we used for closer, low angle shots.
We used the canon to film our entrance to the music video, the three band members playing all at once and towards the end used to to film panning, close ups of the individual band members.



Overall, the shoot went extremely well, and although we were time pressured due to a late start because of the lack of availability of the school gym until 4pm, we got a lot of brilliant work done. The shots we have taken will provide us with near a minutes worth of screen time for our music video. We will review what we have filmed on Thursday 20th November and begin to start editing the shots so that they are ready to be incorporated in the music video when new scenes are filmed. 

FIRST DAY OF FILMING

Today we had the opportunity to film one of our first scenes for the video. This scene is meant to be a direct reflection of the shallow and materialist values that stereotypical Americanism represents.

The scene shows Ellie driving into the distance followed by a tracking and zooming shot. As she moves away a handful of money is carelessly thrown out the window.



Here is a picture of the tripod and the car we were using during the filming of our first shoot. The weather was sunny and crisp and therefore it was an ideal time to film this scene as we could see everything clearly when filming and  the weather reflected the Californian image. 

This scene is influenced directly by Adorno's Theory of the culture industry. Adorno suggested that today's society influences and encourages needless materialism and that people are kept satisfied by this need for things that are not actual necessity's, which has been manufactured by a huge industry that churns out basic brain food to keep the human population satisfied .

Here we printed  out 5, 10 and 20 pound notes to use as props that would be realistic enough to be recognized (although there will also be a closeup of the money before it is thrown so the audience knows what it is).








Bibliography: 
Adorno, Theodor (1991), The Culture Industry: Selected essays on mass culture, Routledge, London.

CALL SHEET: MONEY THROWING SCENE

A2 Media Studies Call Sheet: Money scene

·                     Track – Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Californication

·                     Length – 3 mins 22 seconds

·                     Shoot date – tbd

·                     Location – Money throwing out of car window – Ellie’s Car – in car

Crew: [Ellie Walton, elliepw@hotmail.co.uk,]

·                     Crew: [Elliot Hogan, hogan.elliot@yahoo.co.uk, 07825563046]

·                     Crew: [Max Day, maxday@hotmail.com]

·                     Camera equipment (Nikon Camera (Ellie’s cam) and tripod from media)

·                     Lighting equipment (N/A as will be done in natural daylight)

·                     Props (Photocopied money – preferably £20 notes)

CALL SHEET: HANDBAG FIGHT

Call sheet A2 Media – Handbag fight scene

Track: Californication

Track length: 3 minutes 22 seconds

Cast and crew required:

·        Ellie

·        Elliot

·        Paris

·        Max

Equipment:

·        Canon camera

·        Camera battery (charged)

·        Camera lenses

Props: Stereotypical cop

·        Handbag

·        Police badge

·        Hawaiian shirt

·        Baseball bat

·        Sunglasses

·        Fake handlebar moustache

·        Doughnut box

Band members:

·        casual clothing

CALL SHEET: BAND PERFORMANCE

Call sheet A2 Media – Performance shots

Title of page: A2 Media Studies Call Sheet for Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication

·                     Track – Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Californication

·                     Length – 3 mins 22 seconds

·                     Shoot date – Tuesday 18th November 2013

·                     Location – School small gym, Claremont Fan Court

Crew:             [Ellie Walton, elliepw@hotmail.co.uk,]

·                     Crew: [Elliot Hogan, hogan.elliot@yahoo.co.uk, 07825563046]

·                     Crew: [Max Day, maxday@hotmail.com]

·                     Camera equipment (Nikon Camera (Ellie’s cam), Media camera's from Mrs Mann x 2, Huw Carey's 'Go-Pro' and tripods from media)

·                     Lighting equipment (Lightings from media, x3)

·                     Props (Musical instruments brought over from Music School, Drum Kit, Mic Stands, brought in guitars etc)

Props required - Band members:

·        Casual clothes

·        Guitar

·        Bass guitar

·        Drum kit

·        Microphone + stand

·      

LYRICS ANALYSIS

'CALIFORNICATION'

Here we have synced the lyrics of the song to what will happen in the music video. This outlines for us what we want to happen and when and will be able to give us mores consistency when it comes to editing.

(song intro builds up)             We see a RHCP fan lying on his bed on his phone. A close up sh Psychic spies from China     
Try to steal your mind's elation
Little girls from Sweden                          
Dream of silver screen quotations       
And if you want these kind of dreams
It's Californication

It's the edge of the world
And all of western civilization
The sun may rise in the East                  
At least it settles in the final location
It's understood that Hollywood
sells Californication

Pay your surgeon very well                                    
To break the spell of aging
Celebrity skin is this your chin             
Or is that war your waging

Chorus:
First born unicorn
Hard core soft porn               
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication

Marry me girl be my fairy to the world
Be my very own constellation
A teenage bride with a baby inside
Getting high on information
And buy me a star on the boulevard     
It's Californication

Space may be the final frontier
But it's made in a Hollywood basement
Cobain can you hear the spheres
Singing songs off station to station     
And Alderaan's not far away
It's Californication

Born and raised by those who praise
Control of population everybody's been there and
I don't mean on vacation

Chorus

First born unicorn
Hard core soft porn                

Dream of Californication      
Dream of Californication

PLANNING: DEFINING CALIFORNICATION

'Californication

The process by which the American television and film industry, for the most part based in California, spreads their own highly sexualized, consumer driven, version of American culture that heavily emphasizes sex, violence, celebrity, and youth as both virtues to be extolled and goals to be achieved. Ignoring and often doing everything in their power to blur, if not erase, the dividing line between the fantasy of the cinemas world view and reality. This process has become pandemic with the proliferation of reality television wherein a person can achieve "Californication" without possessing any real talent but rather just the ability to make a fool of themselves on a world wide stage (See: Snookie)

e.g.The sudden popularity of this actress is merely a case of "Californication".

-Thank you Urban Dictionary.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers "californication" is an amalgamation of the words "california" and "fornication". The band uses the word to satire and mock what is percieved to be life in california and that the image everyone round the globe is fed through media, is simply not the truth.

In our music video we are attempting to exploit this view, such as its preoccupation with plastic surgery, self-image and conformity to the California scene for fear of feeling an outcast or alien.
In our music video, we have people spending money unnecessarily that they don’t need to spend, such as pimping out their car, throwing money out of the windows of cars, adoration of brand names, coveting of other people’s things.


The theme of self obsession and the constant need to churn out a glorifying image ties in directly with the Andy Warhol quote "everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes". This highlights what the Chili peppers tried to achieve in their song, by pointing out the shallow and empty promises of everyone wanting to be a star even if it will only be for 15 minutes.

Most people who have never been to California, imagine sea, sand and healthy living. The Red Hot Chili Peppers challenge this perception of Californian life by presenting the shallowness, narcissism and materialism that is actually an everyday part of life. It seems evident that would the band’s lyrics alert us to one of the areas that are the subject of moral panics.

REQUESTING PERMISSION

This is the email we sent to the Warner Brothers music label, requesting permission to use the song Californication for our non profit coursework. We did not receive a reply however this email serves as proof of us at least asking.

HOW THE RHCP DEVELOPED THEIR BRAND

The Chili Peppers have developed a huge global following since their inception in the 80's. What makes them so popular is that they are unlike just about any other music act in the world. Their musical style incorporates odd blends of psychedelic melodies, hardcore punk and smooth, jazzy 70's funk.

Their huge fan-base is a good reflection of how their odd yet surprisingly harmonious musical style has attracted people from around the world.

This is just a few examples of the different style and influences the RCHP have incorporated into their music. Their style is so original and strange that it is almost impossible to class them as a single genre or attribute them to a single demographic. The Chili Peppers have attracted fans from just about every other genre, from punk, to jazz, psychedelia and hard rock fans. This huge and infinitely varied fan base has built them a following that saw them inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame and secure them a title in the musical history books.

This ties in directly with the "star theory" created by Richard Dyer. According to his theory, the Chili Peppers are true Pop performers. They have an image and identity of their own, but they have shaped music in a way that has had a noticeable impact on our culture and will be remembered for it for a long time to come.

RESEARCH: TRENDS

Recently there has been a large diversity in the popular trends of media, not only in the most obvious areas such as music but in film and television as well.

During the summer what tends to be popular is the upbeat pop and rap numbers that are able to work their way high into the charts, Miley Cyrus to Daft Punk have all had considerable radio time showing the diversity that has been popular over the last few months. Large festivals such as Reading are also a big part of the summer music scene, playing artists old and new typically with bands who have been very popular in the previous few months headlining, e.g. Eminem performing at reading last summer coinciding with his recent resurgence in popularity.

These are just some of the artists that have been popular over the summer

1. Miley Cyrus
2. Daft Punk
3. Lil Wayne
4. Jay Z
5. Storm Queen
6. Calvin Harris

However there has also been evidence of trends in television. Relating to our own song and music video, it is not hard to see all the "Americanisms" and stereotypes that have been concocted by producers and large companies. Programmes like CSI, glorify the images of women on golden beaches and an idealistic life in Hollywood or Los Angeles. This has helped spread the stereotype of California across the globe.

Our song Californication deconstructs this image a piece at a time showing how fake it all really is, stating it very plainly in lines like 

"Space may be the final frontier but its made in a Hollywood basement"


 

MORAL PANIC

Moral panics refer to an intense feeling expressed by a population in response to an issue which could threaten the social norm.

Media is often in the forefront of causing moral panics; many films, documentaries, music videos and even songs can cause large controversy and spark debate over whether they should even be allowed to be viewed by the general public because of their content.

There is a long history of satirical art raising eyebrows. Films in particular can cause great controversy, the Monty Python film "life of Brian" while being a critical success caused an uproar in the christian and catholic world, who accused the film of blasphemy and the Python troupe being deliberatley insensitive to peoples religious ideals. The Pythons replied with the simple answer that they were openly debating what it meant to follow a religion rather than thinking for yourself, but the film sparked a worldwide debate on what could be considered fair to exploit in a film and whether satirizing what people held so close to them should be allowed to be parodied in the first place.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers song Californication reflects a genuine moral panic about the ways in which American society is moving rapidly further towards a shallow, commercial, artificial and ultimately unsatisfying life style. All that Adorno (1991) predicted about the culture industries creating ‘false needs’ is explored and satirized in Californication. Ironically, here we have an example of a successful media production criticizing itself: far from Adorno's theory of blinding and passifying the consumers, the band are in the forefront of those telling audiences to wake up and be aware of their passive acceptance of what is false and unsatisfying.

The stereotype of California being a glorious and almost paradise place is so wide spread that revealing some of its more unpleasant sides could have potentially caused large controversy and certainly served as a wake up call for many people of what California is like in reality


There is a music genre associated with moral panics - Heavy Metal. This heavy music often  features violent imagery, loud aggressive lyrics, controversial subject matter and overall loudness. This often breaks the fourth wall and often challenges peoples perception of what can be considered actual music and has historically caused considerable amounts of concern among the public.

For example the band Cannibal Corpse has been banned from performing in several countries due to the violent nature of their music and artwork and an American government official even accused them "of undermining the national character of the United States". Their artwork has also been banned in many countries due to it featuring very gory and horrific imagery

 Similarly the metal band slipknot has come under fire several times for their apparent "indocrtination" of their fans specifically in a single case in 2003 involving a pair of young killers who blamed the lyrics from the song "Disasterpiece" for their vicious crime. Similarly a documentary made about their history  was banned for showing images of fans carving their logo into their bodies with razors to make a "scar tattoo".

These are only a few examples of what kind of reaction controversial ideas and images can instigate in people, even if the concepts are only lightly hinted at.

Artistic freedom is something that is widely permitted in today's society and in my opinion there is a huge amount of flexibility that has allowed artists and musicians the freedom to express themselves in almost any fashion in the name of the art. I believe this to be a positive thing for any kind of creator or artist, as artistic and emotional freedom is a very important aspect in the accepting society we strive to create. However I do believe there is a limit to where something can be considered art especially when they are bordering on the very extreme, such as Polly Morgan whose art takes the form of animal taxidermy and can involve putting animals in almost grotesque situations such as this squirrel in a martini glass.

MEDIA THEORY: RICHARD DYER'S POP STARS

Last week we learned about a theorist named Richard Dyer, whose ideas are somewhot similar to Theodore Adornono's idea of a mega culture industry, but attibuted to individuals rather than a whole market.

Dyer states that a "Pop Star" and "Pop performer" are in fact two different meanings. A pop star is characterised by a meteoric rise whether by a positive or negative means and is world known for short period of time but will ultiamtley be shleved and have no legacy. A pop performer is simply a performer of a popular art form that has a lasting impact on musical or artistic culture.

A pop star has become primarily about the image and is in all essences a brand. this can be attributed to their management and they will do almost anything to promote their "brand". For example we read about all kinds of sordid love affairs and negative behaviour in the sun and heat magazine, however it draws attention away from music to focus soley on the star. A good example of a pop star would be Miley Cyrus who has recieved considerable amounts of media attention latley. Making a drastic change from an innocent Disney child star to the next Lindsay Lohan, has gained her considerable attention which has been primarily negative especially in light of her sexual MTV performance. However this does work  in accordance with Dyers theory - that any publicity is good publicity and Cyrus has revieced A LOT of publicity making her successful in the eyes of her contractors.

Dyer did also propose that a true Pop performer will have a significant impact on the world and will do so even after they have left the limelight.
Freddie Mercury is a prime example. His flamboyant and outlandish behaviour became  an iconic part of his image while at the same time he is recognised as one of the greatest Rock singers of the 20th century. This has ensured that the music he recorded with Queen will be remembered for many years to come. This is already evident, e.g. the song Bohemian Rhapsody is still considered one of the great rock songs and many people still know the lyrics almost 40 years after its release. Freddie Mercury died an icon and in accordance with Dyers star theory this is how he will remain for years to come.




Bibliography

• Richard Dyer Stars (1980)