Introduction to Negus: Organic vs Synthetic

 

 

 

 

Keith Negus (Organic vs. Synthetic)

 

Keith Negus identifies two distinct ways of thinking about the potential of artists from within the music industry with the two ideologies shaping the way from which the image of the artist and the development of their careers, and also the way that they are marketed towards the different audiences.

His two ideologies:

 

• The Organic Ideology Of Creativity

Organic ideology is a naturalistic was of approach to artists where the main success are due to being within the artists themselves who have been taught and improved by the record company.

Improvements like this would be the image of the artist being enhanced and also being given time to evolve and grow through their career paths. Also for the success of back catalogue emphasis is given to album sales and the sales are often aimed at the more sophisticated and older consumers resulting in profits generated.

 

Examples of organic artists which have gone through this progress:

 

Ed Sheeran:

 

 

 

James Bay:



 

 



 

 

• The Synthetic Ideology Of Creativity

 

This is a combinatorial approach of artists and material which involves executives to attempt to construct successful acts from the artists and is often constructed by the record company to give the artist a short time to improve the success of them. It is often aimed at the younger audiences and is mainly worked at the single sales with the promotion of the first albums.



 

Examples of Synthetic artists using this method:

 

Nicki Minaj:

 

 

Justin Bieber:

 









 

• Balancing the two

For the success of these processes the synthetic acts will fund the investment and also the development of the organic acts which will involve the big record labels looking at the balance of their roster and the combination of the success of the organic and synthetic acts to ensure there funds and the profit of the artists potential for the long term in the future.

 

 

 



Lip Syncing Exercise : Shake it Off

24.06.15

Lip Sync Exercise

What we did to prepare:

• For preparation in this shoot there wasn't that much involved, just practicing before take, a little planning on what actions they are going to use and of course making sure people had learned the lyrics to the song.
• If some groups wanted to, they were allowed to bring in costumes and props for the day to incorporate in their video, but very few people did.

What did we do in the studio:

• In the studio there were 3 areas where we were going to shoot for our lip sync exercise for our lip sync video which lasted 30 seconds each, this involved:
• An area with a green screen background
• A fake rock wall which involved a panning movement camera on a dolly
• Finally a sofa set up with a DSLR camera to use
• For the set up we were split into groups of 7 and given approx. 25 minutes to shoot on each area, overall allowing us to get around 6 shots on each area
• To make sure we all were involved in the making of our video as a team, we had 3 on the camera and 3 in front of the camera each time then switched, making sure everyone had equal turns in front of the camera.
• Also, to make sure everyone was ready and organized before each of the different shots, we had some people to be assigned as floor manager due to there was a clapper to start the beginning of the music track at each time, so everyone had to make sure they were in time to the music.

What did we learn?:

• I learnt how to communicate well within a big group which was very important due to the many other groups who were ready to shoot at different times, so it took a lot of communication between people, and of course the floor manager in order to make sure the music was in time with everyone's video
• I had never used a dolly before this exercise, so I found it very interesting to learn how to video while panning left and right as someone pushed the dolly around at the same time, allowing the shot to be less blurred, still and clean
• Another camera that was interesting and hard to work on was the fixed leans camera due to there being no zoom, so if we needed a close up shot for our video we had to change the lens and then for focus we had to use a tape measure from the persons face level towards the camera.

What did I learn in the suite, what steps did I take to cut the video and did I make any mistakes?

• When it came to editing we went into the filming suite in our groups and were firstly taught how to match the voice over of the song "Shake it off" by Taylor Swifts soundtrack to the video, so that the lyrics of the song matched the lip syncing of peoples mouths in the video
• This process was actually very tricky due to the different types of shots we had to match up and edit
• They showed us the advised way of starting the process by picking all the shots that were the best and we wanted to use, then match them up to the music soundtrack timing on the clapper board
• Our mistake we made was that in our group we decided to start to cut and edit all the clips firstly instead as we placed them on the timeline, rather than syncing them first so took a lot longer to match it all.
• This was not helpful due to we didn't manage to finish the whole video all together, however we didn't completely understand the advised way which we were taught so lost valuable time having it explained again.
• Next time we do this exercise for our future A2 tasks I will learnt the quicker method as it would save a lot of time and made sure that we finish the sequence like the other groups. 



Richard Dyer : Star Image Introduction

 

RICHARD DYER : STAR IMAGE

 

 

Who is he?

 

Richard Dyer extensively looked into and wrote his views on the role of stars in films, music industry and TV, proving that no matter what genre or medium they are, or how different, stars all have on key feature in common which include:

 

-A star image which has been constructed out of a range of materials such as videos, media appearances and artwork and not actually from a real person

-Stars are commodities which are produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings.

 

 

 

Dyer believes strongly that the "star image" is incomplete, incoherent and open due to it is based on the two key paradoxes:

• The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer.
• The star must be simultaneously  ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer. 

The common values of the music stardom include:

• Youthfulness
• Rebellion
• Originality
• Aggression and Anger
• Sexual Magnetism
• Disregard towards social values
• Talent and Creativity

In order to make an image for themselves which then can be taken to market towards their target audiences, a star has to depend on different and all types of media-magazines, radio and TV.

 

 

 

 

 





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Madonna : Like A Prayer

"Like A Prayer" (1989)"

 

The music video "Like A Prayer" by the American, hugely famous pop singer, Madonna, directed by Mary Lambert, is a rock pop song containing many different elements to the song. The soundtrack contained a very gospel and spiritual feel with hints of darkness to the setting resulting in creating a lot of controversy with religious beliefs and views at that time and even also to this day. Main elements which was created to cause such controversy were images of the burning crucifixes linking with the Ku Klux Klan and a black Jesus, going against very strong stereotypical views on religious beliefs and groups.

In the video there are obviously three main themes portrayed throughout:

• SEX
• RACE
• RELIGION

In the narrative part of the video it introduces us to a white girl being held against a wall and stabbed violently by a group of white men as a gang, again going against the stereotypical views of all violent gang members are black, with however, a young black man ending up being framed for the murder due to him trying to help. While this is going on Madonna is hiding in a church watching the events happening and deciding whether or not to be brave and find the courage to stand up and go as witness to the injustice served.

 

 

 

 SEX

 

In this video the artist Madonna gives of sex appeal even when strongly associated with strict religion due to her outfit with what she is wearing allowing the audience to see the religious aspect but also her sex appeal at the same time, again causing controversy due to going against the Catholic views of remaining pure and being innocent as women. Also as well as her sex appeal, the video portrays the gender inequality with the objectification of women due to the young girl being portrayed as hopeless and little while harassed and killed by a big group of men.

 

Madonna is giving a very sexual image revealing her body due to her low cut dress and close up images around her chest area, again going against the religious views of pure white and having to be covered up. Also the way she dances quite provocatively to the song with the gospel strengthens her

sex appeal image in the video.

 

 

 

 

RELIGION

 

As mentioned before, the idea of religion and faith in the video is portrayed very strongly throughout linking with  the title "Like A Prayer", following the narrative action with Madonna finding hope and guidance of her situation through the church and the black Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the video different shots are used with religious iconography, linking with the idea of religion using different elements such as the burning crucifix's at the beginning, along with a  black Jesus and the church, leaving the audience with no doubt that this video as a very religious theme. An example of this would be the images of Stigmata with the image of Madonna's injuries on her hands matching the idea of Jesus's injuries on the cross as well as the spear through his kidney linking to the women getting stabbed by the gang members

 

The main problems and causing of controversy with video mainly was raised due to the burning crosses and black Jesus linking to a connotation of the KKK, with also the violence and gang scenes going against strong Catholic beliefs, there is no doubting that most elements to this video was decided on a very risky decision making process knowing full well some of the damage that was going to be done. You could look at this as a way of Madonna standing out more and getting a more worldwide visual image to herself while drawing awareness towards racism and too strong religious beliefs at that time, with the video being a way of saying that none of it is ok.

 

RACE

 

Another controversy element which cause issues amongst the audience with the video was the saint linking to the use of Saint Thomas, which was seen as "black Jesus" stirring major discomfort and anger towards the Catholics. It subverts the normal stereotypical types of black people compared to white, portraying the white people as gang members harming with a black man being the saviour in the video coming to the woman's aid, re-establishing how bad racism has been .

 

 

 

The connection between the young black man and Madonna suggests a romance which goes against the beliefs of races mixing together, again establishing the wrongness of many beliefs thought the video.

Another sequence in the video which is quite iconic is the dream like caption part with Madonna falling down through the sky and the caught by a gospel singer woman is robes adding to a miracle element in the video and therefore religion and the idea of being "saved" by god.

 

 Madonna explained herself : 'As the choir sings, she reaches an orgasmic crescendo of sexual fulfillment intertwined with her love of God. She knows that nothing's going to happen to her if she does what she believes is right. She wakes up, goes to the jail, tells the police the man is innocent, and he is freed. Then everybody takes a bow as if to say we all play a part in this little scenario."

 

 

 

With the use of a all black gospel choir and the end of the video, it portrays a way of Madonna finally fulfilling her destiny of saving the young black man who then becomes her lover though the help of faith and religion going against every stereotypical view with religion. For the final scene a theatrical element was put in place with the way the big red curtains closes after they all bow, suggesting the reason behind this being one of due to them knowing the amount of controversy they are going to cause, to try and avoid the harsh damage they turned the video into a "play" to suggest to the audience it was only done for entertainment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organic Album Covers

 

 

 

James Bay

 

Looking at the different elements which are made towards allowing the artist to stand out as being an "organic" artist over a "synthetic" one.

• Due to the simple drawing of the artist with his iconic image of the hat could reflect the pureness of his music.
• The name of the artist is in big font so stands out more than the album name showing his importance.
• There is no sex appeal suggested due to the simplistic drawing and takes away any distractions allowing us to focus mainly on his music and nothing else.
• The colour of blue used for the image of the sea suggests calmness and relates to the album name.
• Instead of using graphic designs and complex digital colours, they have chosen natural painting to give off original simple image to his music.
• Star Image : deep and thoughtful even though eyes not shown but are looking down portraying meaningfulness in image
• Genre exposed as simple, acoustic image of style which is very deep and thoughtful.