Friday, 14 November 2014
Friday, 7 November 2014
Wednesday, 5 November 2014
Stylistic Influences- Mac Demarco
After looking at Andrew Goodwin's theory and also Concluding that it is in fact an indie rock disjuncture/abstract music video I want to create I am now looking at Mac DeMarco to get style inspiration for my own music video. Due to listening/ watching this style of music video myself I know first hand what artists produce these type of music videos. I enjoy his music videos and after analysing his video previously I now want to look at the common features in all of his videos which make up his style so that I can include these codes and conventions in my own music video. All of the things which I talk about below are all things in which I should consider to do when making my music video as I am wanting to make a music video in the style of Mac DeMarco. Mac DeMarco's music video is in fact from the indie rock genre and therefore he is unconventional when it comes to this genre however all of his music videos are conventional in terms of his style as they all have a unique style.
The Music videos that I am going to look at are...
Overall look
These five music videos are Mac DeMarco's main music videos. Firstly I would put these five videos into two categories. One being 'professionally shot' videos that have a professional look to them and ones that are not. I would put 'My Kind of Woman' and also the 'Dreamin' video in this category as they both look like they have been done professionally. Although the other 3 have been done professionally they're conveyed to the audience in a way that they haven't because of the style of them. The producer of the music videos which don't look professional is a guy called Pierce Mcgarry, the videos have a VHS tape style to them which in turn makes them look old and less professionally filmed as they're not filmed on a set and the videos are extremely grainy however this is just the style of the videos and you can tell it is intended to look that way even though we have the modern technology of today. The style is like a broken VHS tape this only makes the films look more abstract and 'trippy'.Within the video there is also layers of film that is like a montage of images on top of each other which then gives the videos a disjointed effect but in turn makes sense after watching the video and adds to the main narrative and all these videos clearly appeal to an audience even though they're abstract as they have a lot of YouTube views. Therefore when making my music video I need to take into consideration whether I want the broken VHS style tape or just the professional clean cut look as this is part of Mac DeMarcos style.
Unconventionality
The narrative of all these videos are all different but yet the same element is carried out throughout which is why you can tell that all of these videos are Mac DeMarco. There is always a sense of unconventionality. Throughout all videos there is a controversial aspect. For example, smoking is something that is featured throughout all the videos others include dressed in drag and alcohol. However one thing I do find interesting is that the controversial subject which is conveyed in the video is subtle and not obvious and rather than the audience knowing the meaning straight away it is in fact inferred and then there can be multiple meanings. One of the main videos in which this is a main example is the 'Chamber of Reflection' music video it denotes that someone is wearing a Simpsons mask and walking around to the beat of the music. However this has connotations of drug use and it's not necessarily obvious to the viewer straight away. Therefore in my music video this is something I should do, I should infer meaning so that the message of the controversial subject is not totally obvious to the viewer on the surface but when you look deeper it actually is, for example drug use.
Lyrics not matching the visuals
Another thing which is quite predominant in all of DeMarcos music videos is the fact that the lyrics of the song do not match the visuals at all. The videos are totally abstract and random and they're all 'disjuncture' music videos. This is something that I should take into consideration when creating my music video as it is part of Macs style. Although the lyrics do not match the visuals, throughout the song Mac DeMarco is shown to be singing to the song or using an instrument. I think this is a key feature however it is not done a totally conventional way for example, he is dressed in crazy outfits and doing crazy things which adds to the totally disjointed look and effect of the video.
In addition the visuals of Mac DeMarcos videos are quite disjointed themselves like I said before its more of a montage of images at first which appear disjointed and then in the end add to the narrative therefore in my music video I need a lot of things to happen which are considered to be crazy for example, running around in fancy dress or a montage of crazy things to happen just like in the 'Passing out the Pieces' video. The lyrics will not match the visuals and footage will be in a montage kind of way and the video will have layers, which in the end overall convey meaning and a crazy narrative.
Editing and Effects/Camera work
The editing in all Mac DeMarco's videos is one huge aspect to his style. The editing makes the videos appear disjointed and abstract. In the videos that have the VHS broken tape style this is predominantly in the 'Chamber of Reflection' music video, there is parts of the video which has another video layered over the top which means the opacity of one video differs to the other which gives the effects of the video blurring together. Which gives the video connotations of drug use as there is not a clear image and vision is blurred.
Mac DeMarco's editing style has developed over time and the videos in which I have classed as 'professionally shot' are like that to fit with the current trends and to gain a wider audience. However in all of his videos he uses really abstract editing techniques as this seems to be his style. The first example would be in the 'Passing out the Pieces' music video and in some of his other videos, they're shot using a fish eye lens. This makes the video become distorted and adds to the narrative being quite dysfunctional and distorted. Having a fish eye lens means that you can see clearly peoples expressions on their faces without using a close up shot as most shot types in this music video are all medium shots this is because the fish eye lens already makes you see what should be the centre of attention more clearly and it makes the video become more intense to the viewer.
All three of his older music videos in which I have previously classed as 'not professionally shot' all experiment with the use of colour. In these it uses an infared effect over the image and also multicoloured. This unnatural colouring emphasises that the narrative is unnatural and not normal to real life or that its not actually happening. Furthermore as the visuals in all of these music videos do not match the lyrics the message can be hard to understand thus there being more mature target market. One thing that Mac DeMarco does do is uses colour to convey meaning. The very harsh and predominant house style colours in all of these videos conveys a meaning to the viewer loud and clear as the colour scheme is bright and 'in your face' and yet the message is subtle.
In the 'My Kind of Woman' music video throughout the video the narrative and message is slowly revealed this is done through the use of zooming. A lot of zoom in and zoom outs have been used at different speeds to convey the meaning and reveal things slowly. Also it is done to give the video a disjointed look hence Mac DeMarco's style. Therefore in my music video I have to think about whether I am going to do this like DeMarco and slowly reveal the deep message of the video using zooming.
Another thing that I like is the use of a handheld camera in the 'My Kind of Woman' music video which makes the video come across to the audience as 'trippy' this is because you can see things from his view and as he is walking into things it gives a sense of loss of balance and direction.
Another thing which I think is quite good in the 'My Kind of Woman' music video which would make the video look more abstract is what he has done at 2.40 to 2.50 is where he has made it look like inanimate objects are moving around him. This effect can be quite hard to achieve but it gives it a more abstract and animated effect when it comes to editing and in turn conveys a deeper meaning to the audience, as the inanimate objects are things moving without human touch and the artist is what becomes the object. The only way I can think of recreating this effect would be through the use of stop motion and taking lots of images instead of filming and then putting them together this can be very time consuming but it will give a great affect this is something I need to look more closely at and do research into on how to do it as its something I have never done before. But its something I need to take into consideration when trying to create a music video in the style of Mac DeMarco.
Content
The last thing I want to talk about in terms of Mac DeMarcos style which I think is quite important is the actual content of his music videos. I believe that all of his music videos are all quite creepy and in a way scary. At first I was unsure as to why this is, as the content isn't actually conveyed as your stereotypical scary video. It is creepy and scary in an unconventional way. This is because all the content is quite vague and ambiguous.When put across to the viewer it can be quite creepy and in a way scary as it makes you ask questions as to why certain things are happening and as most of the time in his videos things don't necessarily have clear explanations as to why things are happening, it creates a sense of ambiguity and is thus creepy.
Examples of this is wearing masks this is predominantly in the 'Chamber of Reflection' music video as you can not see the identity underneath the mask which creates a sense of uneasiness and strangeness. This is also through the use of costume and dressing up in which Mac DeMarco is dressed up in two of his music videos, this makes the viewer become uneasy as you don't know the true meaning as to why and you cant see the artists true identity, as you don't know if they're trying to portray someone else's identity, this also creates an ambiguous atmosphere and creates an enigma to the viewer and leaves them asking questions.
Another thing I find which creates a sense of uneasiness and danger is the theme of isolation the video is usually about Mac DeMarco on his own or him being in something on his own for example when you see him on his own in the 'My Kind of Woman' music video and also the 'Dreamin' music video he is on his own even though there is other people there, it gives the sense that his disjointed from others and in both of these videos he gets things poured over him in a grotesque way which doesn't have an explanation as to why this is happening as you cant see who is doing this too him therefore he is isolated and this unknown danger as to who is doing it to him makes underlying danger, this feeling and underlying danger happens because the narrative becomes unclear and thus abstract and disjointed to the viewer, this unclear narrative is hard to understand and this is why his videos have a sense of being creepy and scary due to ambiguity. Therefore in my music video I think is should try to create a subtle sense of danger through the use of ambiguity which thus makes the video creepy as this is part of his style and is why it appeals to an audience as they want to watch to understand why this is happening.
The Music videos that I am going to look at are...
- 'My Kind Of Woman' by Mac DeMarco
- 'Dreamin' by Mac DeMarco
- 'Chamber of Reflection' by Mac DeMarco
- 'Ode to Viceroy' by Mac DeMarco
- 'Passing out the Pieces' by Mac DeMarco
Overall look
These five music videos are Mac DeMarco's main music videos. Firstly I would put these five videos into two categories. One being 'professionally shot' videos that have a professional look to them and ones that are not. I would put 'My Kind of Woman' and also the 'Dreamin' video in this category as they both look like they have been done professionally. Although the other 3 have been done professionally they're conveyed to the audience in a way that they haven't because of the style of them. The producer of the music videos which don't look professional is a guy called Pierce Mcgarry, the videos have a VHS tape style to them which in turn makes them look old and less professionally filmed as they're not filmed on a set and the videos are extremely grainy however this is just the style of the videos and you can tell it is intended to look that way even though we have the modern technology of today. The style is like a broken VHS tape this only makes the films look more abstract and 'trippy'.Within the video there is also layers of film that is like a montage of images on top of each other which then gives the videos a disjointed effect but in turn makes sense after watching the video and adds to the main narrative and all these videos clearly appeal to an audience even though they're abstract as they have a lot of YouTube views. Therefore when making my music video I need to take into consideration whether I want the broken VHS style tape or just the professional clean cut look as this is part of Mac DeMarcos style.
Unconventionality
The narrative of all these videos are all different but yet the same element is carried out throughout which is why you can tell that all of these videos are Mac DeMarco. There is always a sense of unconventionality. Throughout all videos there is a controversial aspect. For example, smoking is something that is featured throughout all the videos others include dressed in drag and alcohol. However one thing I do find interesting is that the controversial subject which is conveyed in the video is subtle and not obvious and rather than the audience knowing the meaning straight away it is in fact inferred and then there can be multiple meanings. One of the main videos in which this is a main example is the 'Chamber of Reflection' music video it denotes that someone is wearing a Simpsons mask and walking around to the beat of the music. However this has connotations of drug use and it's not necessarily obvious to the viewer straight away. Therefore in my music video this is something I should do, I should infer meaning so that the message of the controversial subject is not totally obvious to the viewer on the surface but when you look deeper it actually is, for example drug use.
Lyrics not matching the visuals
Another thing which is quite predominant in all of DeMarcos music videos is the fact that the lyrics of the song do not match the visuals at all. The videos are totally abstract and random and they're all 'disjuncture' music videos. This is something that I should take into consideration when creating my music video as it is part of Macs style. Although the lyrics do not match the visuals, throughout the song Mac DeMarco is shown to be singing to the song or using an instrument. I think this is a key feature however it is not done a totally conventional way for example, he is dressed in crazy outfits and doing crazy things which adds to the totally disjointed look and effect of the video.
In addition the visuals of Mac DeMarcos videos are quite disjointed themselves like I said before its more of a montage of images at first which appear disjointed and then in the end add to the narrative therefore in my music video I need a lot of things to happen which are considered to be crazy for example, running around in fancy dress or a montage of crazy things to happen just like in the 'Passing out the Pieces' video. The lyrics will not match the visuals and footage will be in a montage kind of way and the video will have layers, which in the end overall convey meaning and a crazy narrative.
Editing and Effects/Camera work
The editing in all Mac DeMarco's videos is one huge aspect to his style. The editing makes the videos appear disjointed and abstract. In the videos that have the VHS broken tape style this is predominantly in the 'Chamber of Reflection' music video, there is parts of the video which has another video layered over the top which means the opacity of one video differs to the other which gives the effects of the video blurring together. Which gives the video connotations of drug use as there is not a clear image and vision is blurred.
Mac DeMarco's editing style has developed over time and the videos in which I have classed as 'professionally shot' are like that to fit with the current trends and to gain a wider audience. However in all of his videos he uses really abstract editing techniques as this seems to be his style. The first example would be in the 'Passing out the Pieces' music video and in some of his other videos, they're shot using a fish eye lens. This makes the video become distorted and adds to the narrative being quite dysfunctional and distorted. Having a fish eye lens means that you can see clearly peoples expressions on their faces without using a close up shot as most shot types in this music video are all medium shots this is because the fish eye lens already makes you see what should be the centre of attention more clearly and it makes the video become more intense to the viewer.
All three of his older music videos in which I have previously classed as 'not professionally shot' all experiment with the use of colour. In these it uses an infared effect over the image and also multicoloured. This unnatural colouring emphasises that the narrative is unnatural and not normal to real life or that its not actually happening. Furthermore as the visuals in all of these music videos do not match the lyrics the message can be hard to understand thus there being more mature target market. One thing that Mac DeMarco does do is uses colour to convey meaning. The very harsh and predominant house style colours in all of these videos conveys a meaning to the viewer loud and clear as the colour scheme is bright and 'in your face' and yet the message is subtle.
In the 'My Kind of Woman' music video throughout the video the narrative and message is slowly revealed this is done through the use of zooming. A lot of zoom in and zoom outs have been used at different speeds to convey the meaning and reveal things slowly. Also it is done to give the video a disjointed look hence Mac DeMarco's style. Therefore in my music video I have to think about whether I am going to do this like DeMarco and slowly reveal the deep message of the video using zooming.
Another thing that I like is the use of a handheld camera in the 'My Kind of Woman' music video which makes the video come across to the audience as 'trippy' this is because you can see things from his view and as he is walking into things it gives a sense of loss of balance and direction.
Another thing which I think is quite good in the 'My Kind of Woman' music video which would make the video look more abstract is what he has done at 2.40 to 2.50 is where he has made it look like inanimate objects are moving around him. This effect can be quite hard to achieve but it gives it a more abstract and animated effect when it comes to editing and in turn conveys a deeper meaning to the audience, as the inanimate objects are things moving without human touch and the artist is what becomes the object. The only way I can think of recreating this effect would be through the use of stop motion and taking lots of images instead of filming and then putting them together this can be very time consuming but it will give a great affect this is something I need to look more closely at and do research into on how to do it as its something I have never done before. But its something I need to take into consideration when trying to create a music video in the style of Mac DeMarco.
Content
The last thing I want to talk about in terms of Mac DeMarcos style which I think is quite important is the actual content of his music videos. I believe that all of his music videos are all quite creepy and in a way scary. At first I was unsure as to why this is, as the content isn't actually conveyed as your stereotypical scary video. It is creepy and scary in an unconventional way. This is because all the content is quite vague and ambiguous.When put across to the viewer it can be quite creepy and in a way scary as it makes you ask questions as to why certain things are happening and as most of the time in his videos things don't necessarily have clear explanations as to why things are happening, it creates a sense of ambiguity and is thus creepy.
Examples of this is wearing masks this is predominantly in the 'Chamber of Reflection' music video as you can not see the identity underneath the mask which creates a sense of uneasiness and strangeness. This is also through the use of costume and dressing up in which Mac DeMarco is dressed up in two of his music videos, this makes the viewer become uneasy as you don't know the true meaning as to why and you cant see the artists true identity, as you don't know if they're trying to portray someone else's identity, this also creates an ambiguous atmosphere and creates an enigma to the viewer and leaves them asking questions.
Another thing I find which creates a sense of uneasiness and danger is the theme of isolation the video is usually about Mac DeMarco on his own or him being in something on his own for example when you see him on his own in the 'My Kind of Woman' music video and also the 'Dreamin' music video he is on his own even though there is other people there, it gives the sense that his disjointed from others and in both of these videos he gets things poured over him in a grotesque way which doesn't have an explanation as to why this is happening as you cant see who is doing this too him therefore he is isolated and this unknown danger as to who is doing it to him makes underlying danger, this feeling and underlying danger happens because the narrative becomes unclear and thus abstract and disjointed to the viewer, this unclear narrative is hard to understand and this is why his videos have a sense of being creepy and scary due to ambiguity. Therefore in my music video I think is should try to create a subtle sense of danger through the use of ambiguity which thus makes the video creepy as this is part of his style and is why it appeals to an audience as they want to watch to understand why this is happening.
Monday, 3 November 2014
Feedback from teacher and personal review
Here is my feedback from my teacher of what I have done well and if I carry on doing what I have been doing I will be able to complete my work to a level 4 standard. I also have things to do in order to get to this stage and also to improve my work in general. Before I was given feedback I did a personal review. I plan on doing my improvements before the end of December in order to use my time correctly and effectively.
Conclusion on Genre
After looking at 5 music videos all from different genres/sub-genres I have decided that the genre I want to focus on is of the indie rock genre, this is because after analysing all of them I feel this will be the one I will find I can be more creative with, as after analysing Mac DeMarcos 'My Kind of Woman' music video I found that that music video is really abstract and crazy and it can have multiple meaning behind it without them being obvious. Therefore doing a music video from this genre I will be able to put my creative skills to best use. Therefore the next step I need to take in the stage of research is looking at some more Mac DeMarco music videos as I like his style of being unconventional and although I am aware that I am essentially making a copy of his style I am actually still going to be creating something original as Baudrillard said 'Everything is a copy of a copy' therefore it can be said that my music video will have a post modernist approach and I believe by doing so it will give me a higher chance of making a successful product as that style already appeals to an audience. I then want to look at other music videos which infer meaning because I found out that abstract indie rock videos have multiple meanings. I also feel that this genre would be easier for me personally to do as I am a fan of this genre and do myself enjoy abstract music videos. I also need to get some audience feedback on the indie rock genre.
Textual Analysis- Mac DeMarco- My Kind Of Woman (Indie/Indie Rock)
Firstly this music video is both narrative and performance based. As DeMarco is singing throughout the video it also has a narrative running throughout of which makes the music videos stand out from the crowd. I really like this music video as the meaning of the video is quite abstract and non explicit. Therefore it could be left up to the target audience to make their own interpretation of the music video suggesting that Mac DeMarcos fans are more mature music fans. The lyrics of the song are about a woman which is miss leading because when it comes to the music video there is a totally different meaning as you can see Mac DeMarco is dressed in drag. My own interpretation is that he could be trying to portray a different side of him, not to be a woman but describing his inner-self/ other side of him as a drag queen and is singing about himself in third person. When referring to Andrew Goodwin's theory on Amplification, illustration and Disjuncture, this would be a Disjuncture music video as it's very abstract and the lyrics do not match the visuals. I quite like this as I feel that by having two different meanings it means that the music video in turn would be more creative. The fact that this video is abstract and has two different meanings could also reflect that the artist himself is very abstract as an artist and his songs could be considered abstract too. The abstractness of the video is conveyed through predominately the use of mise en scene and editing.
The music artist himself is an up and coming artist. He is known for doing controversial things such as public nudity and being in the public eye for drunken shamelessness. Therefore if fans were to see any of these thing in the music video its is in turn going to be more recognisable to them as a DeMarco video. However he does this in a very subtle way and not in a straightforward and noticeable way, thus fans not being able to notice immediately that this is a Mac DeMarco music video. Instead of being 'in your face' he decides to be controversial by dressing as a woman and also being shown as naked throughout the ending of the video. Moreover, seeing as this is one of the very few official music videos that DeMarco has released it is important that fans are still able to recognize the artist along with his style. I believe that the intangible and abstract setting relates to this because one of the scenes involves a room which is filled with large letters, spelling Mac DeMarco, because of this it can then be apparent to the viewers and therefore further adding to the abstract feel the video has. Overall making it more creative rather than just simply having his name at the beginning of the video. Having this as a setting adds to the stars image of being 'quirky' and crazy and instead of getting across to viewers what type of artist he is and his name in an obvious way it is done in a more toned down way.
Other locations used also appear to be quite abstract such as the theatre, the theatrical basement and also the newspaper at the beginning of the music video. The transition from each setting and scene is not done smoothly adding to the overall abstractness of the video. The video tends to go very slow paced and then really fast paced, at 1.30 the camera slowly zooms out from Mac DeMarco which reveals more and more about the scene and leaves it up to audience interpretation of why he is where he is. It then goes very fast paced and zooms in to the artist in which a handheld camera is used, this gives the music video a disjointed effect and it also makes time quicken up which could appear to be strange to a viewer. Giving the music video a lackadaisical effect and it makes the viewer appear on the same level as the viewer. It is also a code to the viewer that we are about to see things from his point of view so we as viewers clearly get to see the expression on his face conveying emotion to the audience or in this case a non motionless expression in contrast to the stuff happening to him. The fact he is not being fazed by all the things been thrown at him adds to the craziness of the video as craziness becomes the normality. Having the disjointed transitions and close up shots due to hand held cameras makes things and messages about the music video slowly become revealed throughout.
Throughout the music video the lighting changes from being dull to being really bright which enhances the mood of the song. The house style colours throughout this music video are red, orange and blue, these are all really bright colours. These colours are all colours in which are considered 'in your face' colours as they're not subtle at all, this could be the artist trying to portray the message of the video loud and clear through the house style colours as the colours are 'in your face' but yet the message which I interpreted previously is shown in a subtle way.
After analysing this music video if I decide to make an abstract music video of the indie rock genre the things in which I have to take into consideration in order to appeal to a target market are:
- To have a narrative which doesn't match the visuals.
- Have different locations which are random and doesn't match the lyrics.
- The artist does things which are considered as crazy, for example in this video he is dressed as a woman and parading around naked.
- The editing is very disjointed both slow and fast paced.
- A handheld camera has been used so we can see things from the artist point of view.
- Things are revealed throughout the video due to the use of editing.
- The video has multiple meanings.
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