The Use of Media Language in Gabrielle Aplin's - Home

Gabrielle Aplin - Home



Artist: Gabrielle Aplin
Track: Home
Genre: Singer/Songwriter/Folk/Pop
Release Date: 9th of January 2012 (Home EP 2012) (Debut Album English Rain 2013)
Producer: Mike Spencer

Genre Characteristics

- The main aspect of characteristic of folk/pop is the emphasis of the location and the close ups of the Gabrielle herself, its identified through the lip sync of the artist singer and the cuts between the artist buying a guitar, busking in the street and performing in the bar. This female singer would appeal to the younger female audience who are interested in listening to Pop music with the new interest in folk music that they might of not been introduced to. Another characteristic would be the narrative, many stereotypical folk songs are shot in locations such as deserts, this alternately makes the video significant.

-The lead singer is seen playing the guitar with means there is emphasis on the genre of the song, intern means that the identity of the song is being shown throughout the music video. 

- The music video shows Gabrielle performing the song in many different places which shows of the variety and structure of the storyline, the song is sung in a style which could be referenced to Passenger or Birdy. These other popular artist suggest that this style of music is very popular with demographs of the age of 15-25 year olds, meaning their is a very powerful and successful market, by showing off their genre of Pop/Folk within their music videos. 

- Folk/Singer/Songwriter, is also known to be associated with acoustic guitars and piano  mixed with lead vocals, as its the way the artist helps to make the genre its identity with the image shown of the busking scene as the guitar is used to attract people to listen, it still shows that with these  instruments are and always will be associated with this particular type of music genre, they show their importance and significance of the genre alongside their dominance in the music industry. 

-  Whereas typically when folk/singer/songwriter music is shown in a music video they're seen to be wearing outfits that are custom e.g. wearing jeans, high heels and a jacket that is significant to the location that the video is set in or a local/national team they support, in this video it represents that stereotype with the attire that she is wearing, what she is wearing is tend to be represented as being casual and up to date with fashion trends that are already being used in society. 

Notion of Looking  

- Throughout this music video there is examples of voyeuristic theasures, for example the first scene is when a group of boys steal her car and treat her with no respect, this carries on until 0:53 into the video. Their are many close ups of the singer to promote the female artist through body and facial features. For example some close ups of her in the motel of her singing in her pyjamas which relate to the exposure of the female body, her body and mouth stand out the most which can be targeted to the male audience and can also be a connection to the female audience by being upset or scared. 

- One interpretation could be that all the close ups is due to the emotions that are captured by the audience through the music video, they could also be a shown to show power and dominance but other times be shown as anger, upset or pain. Many close ups can be interpreted as a voyeuristic characteristic as males can take advantage of this for the sexual object that they see them as, promoting gender inequality. 

- Near enough all the shots are of the singer as she takes you through her struggle of not having a home to go back to and living on the road going from job to job, it shows the struggle from her point of view which shows her reaction to the poor conditions and cheap meals that she is doing, alongside the manual labour she has to do to earn enough money to live. Later on it shows that her passion is music and that is identified when she has to pawn her watch and ring to afford to buy and play the guitar.

- Close ups and medium shots are used to show the audience of her exhaustion and impatience, the medium shot can also focus on character integration or not in this case dialogue. Without a home she feels that the world around her is strange which she might not have felt, the fact that she is on her own makes her vulnerable to men and they could see this as an opportunity. The fact that there isn't any dialogue suggests that she has a persona of innocence, which can be linked to the start where her car was stolen and she is seen to be running after it trying to not give up. 

Close Ups

- The use of close ups is important in the music industry because it allows the record label to show off and promote the artist so that they are more recognisable if anyone comes across them. Close ups can also determine who the man character is or in this case who the singer is, as their is a storyline, there's cuts in-between lip sync and acting to show that she is both the man character and vocalist. One of Goodwins theories is the notion of looking, so close ups helps to identify that. Seeing as the main focusing point is the female, but males are also represented as stereotypes e.g. at the start where the group are acting childish and connoting that they are superior over woman thinking they can do whatever they want. Emphasis on voyeuristic perception is strongly used when the older man in the truck is seen to pull over on the road and pick up the young female in the car and not charge her at the end, implying satisfaction through looking is the payment he was looking for. 

Relationship Between Music and Visuals

- The music and the beat are not supposedly synchronised due to the visual performance and the strong story telling narrative, on the other hand it is clearly shown that the lip sync of the singer to the words are being sung are real and is being heard which shows a clear connection between the music and visuals. There is an image of Gabrielle laying her head down upon a pillow in a motel, the visual is shown with the line 'It's not where you lay your head' which is in the chorus of the song. The sound of the instruments picks up with the tempo of the singing in order to create the sound of the chorus being played. 
'Home' can be interpreted as a number of places that you personally call home. When you hear the first time that 'home' is mentioned it shows the visual to be placed in a long shot of the artist in her motel room, which would imply that she is in fact home to where she feels that she needs to be. Looking at the relationship between the music and visuals being in sync to a possible narrative of steps to take to show where you find that your heart is set in stone to the place that you yourself calls home, it is interpreted as the journey that she takes in order to come back home showing her struggles of trying to get to the place that she belongs.     

Relationship Between Lyrics and Visuals  

- The first lyric spoken is "I'm a phoenix in the water" this is a reference to the phoenix shown on the back of her jacket, it could also connote the freedom that she has to be able to drive and the age that she is, it could also portray the sense of being adapted to a different lifestyle with the bird living in a completely different location, this could link in with the fact that Gabrielle is in a totally different environment and has to quickly adapt to survive.  

Intertextual Reference

- One of Goodwins theories shows that there is intertexual references within the music video. I noticed that while watching the music video, it has similar references to the film 'Thelma and Louise'. In the film there is a scene where the both of them are driving through the desert while they are fleeing from the murder that Louise committed and are on there way to Mexico. Its a reference to 'Home' because there is a seen where Gabrielle is wondering through the dessert on her way home when her car was hijacked by a group of men. Both the music video and the film have similarities such as they're both escaping what just happened and their trying to escape what they've just been through.  

Casting

Casting

When came to casting the actors for this music video we as a group decided to try and keep it simple in terms of who we use in the video, because having more than 3 actors would provide difficulty and uncertain complications, especially when we had to film in three different locations. Through organising our concept for the storyline, we came to the mutual decision that we would keep the ideology around two actors, these would then tell the story from each others point of view and therefore lead to show the alternative ending.

Winterton Shoot

To take on the leading male character we chose Connor (Steven), we thought that he was the best fit to play the role as the boyfriend on multiple reasons such as appearance and understanding of the role. As Connor is in the same group along side the same media class, it was very easy to have continual discussions to do with planning and organising the understanding that the character would have to act/feel, it was an easier task when the actor is surrounded with information about the story. In previous productions such as the making of the thriller short film we still decided to go with actors that were in our group fully down to the reliability and their constant position that they had within the group as a part of the production, a group member. We wanted to stay clear of using actors that were from different schools and particularly students that have taken other subjects at our own school, it would have provided to be very difficult when trying to organise shooting schedules and location shoots that would have been an arduous effort trying to contact and to keep organising the understanding of the plot every session. Having just a couple of lead actors puts a limitation on the availability when they could either be working or in another lesson depending on the day, but with careful planning and strong communication this would make the process a lot easier and more time efficient. We chose Connor because he represented the older teenager with features such as his height and facial hair, the fact that he has facial represents the stereotype of a scruffy teenager but can also relate to the western style back in the 1880's.

Winterton Shoot

The second actor to take on the lead female role would be Sorrel (Lucy), we thought that she was the best fit to play the girlfriend because of her performance in her own thriller her group made last year. It was an easy decision to make and when we asked her she said she would be happy to fulfil the role, she replied with yes and we started to build the rest of the storyline around both herself and Connor. As she is in the same media class as I, it is easier to communicate to her when she is in the lesson, as she only sits a couple of seats away. The positive thing is that she takes drama at A-level which makes our piece stronger with the talent that she has learnt, but the limitation of this would be the fact she belongs to another media group. This makes it difficult when working with her due to her loyalty to another group and the fact that she will make her shooting schedule a priority over ours, this will become a stress to the group but to stop this happening we will have to be very careful with organising and structuring what footage needs to be taken first rather than just scenery shots that can be acquired later on at another date.

Using both of the actors to portray a relationship in a freeze frame will be the album cover when the time comes to do print production; our idea is to continue with the theme of relationships and use that to continue the storyline. Another reason why we picked Sorrel was because of her photogenic aspects of her, we could use her to be the main focus point with Connor in the background, this would make a large reference to the nature of the song, with the lead singer being female.

Location(s)

                                      Winterton Beach

                              

We decided to use this location because it reflected the lyrics and complimented the song through literal representation rather than just using a random setting. This made sense while planning because Winterton has excellent sand dunes in which we can use the silhouette to make the actors seem higher than they actually are which will show their significance to the audience and how they are represented as if they were standing on a high vantage point.

                                

The rocks used in this still could be used to gather high angle shots of when Lucy enters the sea, it allows us to use a wider variety shots and gather new footage that we've never tried before, there would be potential shots that could possible be new to us while filming.

                                

Having a long shot like this will help to compliment the song we've chosen because the track is based around the surrounding environment. I felt that when taking this long shot it would be ideal to show how far the two actors where from each other when the girl starts to walk into the sea. The vast surroundings of the beach will connote her isolation from herself and society. Through a long shot it helps the audience identify the landscape and where the scene is taking place, it provides the audience with the sense of how remote the location is.

                                   

Norwich City Centre

                                  

                           

                           

                           

Applying Goodwins Theory to Ecosmiths "Come Together" Music Video

Music Video Planning

                                Shooting Schedule

Thursday 25th September 2014 - 2:05/4:05 (Period 5+6)

To be able to gather still shots to show the final location of our music video at Eaton Park and to collect shots of different angles to have a wider idea of how the final scene will look. We would collect stills of the location and analyse them to identify what works well in terms of angles and lighting, it will be a lot easier taking lots of different angles with a large variety scale, it will also show our range of abilities with trying new angles and different techniques. This was a great time to take stills because of the busyness of the park when school finishes at around 3 o'clock, we were able to take more stills with how empty the park was, this then enabled us to show off the aesthetic beauty that the park has to offer.    

Crew: Myself, Connor and Josh 

Length: 1/2 Hours 

Location: Eaton Park
Equipment: (Nikon D3200 DSLR w/ Nikkor 18-55mm and Nikkor 70-210mm lenses)/Tripod

Wednesday 1st October 2014 - 11:20/1:20 (Period 3+4)

To practice shooting the scene where the missing poster is found of the lead male characters girlfriend is found. Stills will also be taken in wide variety of shots so when it comes to the final shooting day we can identify what shots and certain location needs to be filmed. This is the shortest part of the music video were we film around 30 seconds of the footage, the objective of this was to locate a café where the missing poster could be located outside of the shop and for Connor to walk past, noticing it and then it progresses to Winterton Beach. Another objective was to practicing using the city centre for possible shots and stills that we could use, this would mean when it came to shooting the real story then we could pick up more footage in the day, meaning being more efficient with our time.

Crew: Josh and Connor

Length: 1/2 hours 

Location: Norwich City Center
Equipment: (Nikon D3200 DSLR w/ Nikkor 18-55mm and Nikkor 70-210mm lenses)/Tripod

Thursday 2nd October 2014 - 2:05/4:05 (Period 5+6)

Seeing as no-one was available to shoot me and Josh decided to go over the stills we took at Eaton Park and the footage Josh and Connor shot in the city centre and carefully plan out what worked well and what didn't, with this strong planning we then decided what shots would look best in different scenarios such as the vanishing point, we could use Connor in the shot or just have the pathway and the trees. We pinpointed what we liked and didn't like, so it was easier when it came to the actual shoot so we knew what we wanted without the stress of trying to gather footage at short notice, this would create problems within the group and we find ourselves with lack of communication and arguing due to lack of time we have.   

Crew: Myself and Josh
Length: 1/2 Hours
Equipment:Nikon D3200 DSLR w/ Nikkor 18-55mm
Location: Study Hall

Sunday 12th October 2014 - 12/5

This is the location where we will film the suicide of the character Lucy, the beach setting was first thought of when we first heard the song and it offers the reference of lyrics to visuals. The main objective of the this shoot was to collect final footage and to start to put together the optimum part of the storyline, this would be the main focusing point that structures our music video, we intend to spend a lot of time here to try and get the angles that we wanted alongside alternative angles so that we have a variety of shots so we can easily obtain feedback when in post production.

Another objective of this shoot would be to show the break up of Lucy and Steven, we would hope to show this through close ups and medium shots to portray the emotion and really capture the acting in this upsetting scene. We may have to return to this location to film the sequences when she enters the water and the pedestrian scene, we guessed that having only 4 hours was not enough, by having some of the crew being bale to visit the beach at this time of year last time they all said that the brightness wouldn't be good enough to really connote the natural feel that the ambient lighting has to offer, so on that we wanted to get the shots that were priority such as the close ups and extreme long shots (Establishing Location).   

Crew: Myself, Connor, Josh and Sorrel

Length: 4 Hours 
Location: Winterton Beach
Equipment: (Nikon D3200 DSLR w/ Nikkor 18-55mm & Nikkor 70-210mm lenses)/Tripod/Track

Tuesday 14th October 2014 - 9/11 (Period 1+2)

This is the location that the vanishing point will be shot in, I thought that we could play around with how we shot the intertexual reference to 'The Third Man' by having two different locations to try and have option, I also thought of a editing technique in which we could use to show are potential The scene will show when Steven meets Lucy, we wanted to show distance in the scene so that's why we chose the third man to pick for one of our inspirations.

Crew: Myself, Josh, Sorrel and Connor
Length: 2 Hours
Location: Eaton Park
Equipment: (Nikon D3200 DSLR w/ Nikkor 18-55mm and Nikkor 70-210mm lenses)/Tripod

Thursday 16th October 2014 - 1:20/4 (Period 5+6) 

This session was Steven finds the missing poster, we soon got there and we decided that we would film in the dark because the location offered good lighting and allowed us to use the silhouette that we wanted to add to the music video.

Crew: Myself, Josh and Connor
Length: 2 Hours
Location: Norwich City Centre
Equipment: (Nikon D3200 DSLR w/ Nikkor 18-55mm)/Tripod

Music Video Planning

Story Boards

Missing Poster

                                 

Audience Feedback

                               

                               

                               

                               

Case Study: Afrika Shox

Afrika Shox



-Artist/ Leftfield ft. Afrika Bambaataa
-Track/ Afrika Shox
-Genre/ Electronic, Acid House, Dupstep, Hip Hop, Noir, Dance, 
-Released/ 6th September 1999
-Directed/ Chris Cunningham

Lighting

- Noir lighting is used to imply that the dim and faded life of the black man as he is struggling to cope with his life and is slowly starting to suffer in the streets of New York, the lighting also links to the representation of chiaroscura lighting to imply the noir into the music genre effectively.

- At the beginning of the music video there is a police car i which it appears to have its lights flashing, this connotes a club/rave like effect which links in with the genre of the track which is dance and dupstep which are all associated with party themes.

-  The track in itself is designed to make people dance too which the music videos incorporates with the lighting, flashing lights are used to continue the effect of a dance club to keep the genre of the track alive, the lights symbol the way people would dance in a club to this song.

Mise en Scene 

- The police car in the beginning connotes that the area that the music video is shot in is a place of violence and corruption, the surrounding area looks like a nightmare and shows that the lead character is struggling and loosing power to the city. It portrays a sense of destruction the black man as he is being ripped apart from the city, like he's no longer apart of society.

- The lead role wears a dog tag which implies that he has served in the American military and from this we can interoperate that he is a returning veteran from the Vietnam war which is established from the time the video was set and New York suggests the period in which it welcomed the return of the soldiers from the war including the black man who has been mistreated and seen as an outsider of society due to the failure of the war to bring back victory from the American Citizens. Another interpretation could be that he's a metaphor for slavery and he is looked down upon by middle class white people and is seen as someone who doesn't deserve the same respect and a chance at life as they do. This can be reinforced by the fact that throughout the music video pieces of this body start to fall off which suggests that he is loosing his confidence and place as a human being. The stereotype of a black person suggests that fear is placed into the eyes of the white people which includes the genre horror into the music video, it neglect from society that he is seen as a danger and a possible nuisance.

- In the car park there are white street dancers that appear to be dancing to music with a stereo, this links in with the idea of the genre of the music video being Hip Hop and dance themed. The dancing originates from black children who enjoyed this certain type of dance and suggests that the lead characters' identity is being stolen and doesn't have any other identity so he is being corrupted by the city until he is no longer.

- The car park in which the black male walks through connotes the alienation which shows isolation which again, shows the world he is living in is separate from him as a human being and there is no help being received from anyone outside of his situation. The lead character is a binary opposite to the white man reading the newspaper through status and power that the white man possesses. It shows there is racial tension, lack of respect and inequality between the two men and that consists as a theme through the entire music video of the racial equality in New York City.

Camera Shots

- The first shot is a low angle/establishing location shot of the twin towers which suggests the wealth, status and power of the city, with the black character on ground level looking up at the tall buildings suggesting the immense power white people have over him. It also shows how different ethnicity is and how dominant they each are shown over each other, it implies that he is stuck at the bottom of the chain looking up at the other dominate figures.

- A panning shot is used to show the bowels of New York which shows the place where he belongs, this scene is an intertexual to The Third Man when Harry Lime is in the sewers which are darkened and claustrophobic.

- There is a close up at 00:41 - 00:49 to show how disorientated the man is about being lost in the big city, it reinforces the struggle that he finds coping after returning from Vietnam.

Lyrics to Visuals Goodwin's Theory

- One of Goodwin's most famous theories is that the lyrics need to link with the visuals and in the music video the stand out lyric to visual was "Lets get electrified', that being the lyric and the visual when the black character touches the electric fence. The electric fence symbolizes him being trapped in the city and not being able to escape, like a prisoner, it links to the idea of being a prisoner of war. It could also connote that he is trapped in his own body in the sense of facing up to the harsh reality, another could be that everyone not just him are slaves, trapped inside rules and opinions of others.

- The electric fence is also a symbol of imprisonment, normally to stop people or animals that are seen as a threat to humans from hurting or endangering them. This suggests that he is seen as a threat to other human beings and is trapped from re-entering society. Middle class white people feel that he is a liability and he is seen as a danger so they make him feel isolated by refusing to give help and ignoring him.

Genre to Visual and Lyrics

- Another of Goodwin's theories of music videos are that genre characteristics with visuals which is when shots and mise en scene are used in the music video e.g. the police cars with the flashing lights used to imply the hip hop and dupstep genre of the song.

Intertextuality

- New York is seen as a dystopia in the music video and it also can be linked in with Carol Reed's 'The Third Man'. A dystopia is a place that looks like a degraded environment and feels like a nightmare, Vienna feels the same way New York is portrayed in the sense of post war and a city full of danger. The genre of noir also links in with 'The Third Man' because there is use of chiaroscura lighting in scenes in which black and white are shown.

- The beginning of Once upon a Time is an intertextual reference in Afrika Shox because the music video is seen to be very dark and mysterious, bleak and somewhat a devastating environment to be in. This is similar to the film when Eve was killed right at the start of the film when the American streets were seen to be dystopia and damaged.
- Within the video (3:12) there is a reference to colonialism where white dancers are seen to be dancing in a particular fashion (Freestyle) which indicates that the white dancers have stolen the black stereotype's dance moves. The stereotype derives from when black kids used to dance in the streets of New York, by this time the lead character stumbles over to the dances and a piece of his arm smashes to the ground which connotes that a piece of his heritage and stereotype for the dancing has been destroyed and he feels less significant with the lack of power he feels over the dancers.
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Possible Music Track

The Chief of Seattle - Across the Sea
Genre: Folk
Released:2014

When I first heard this song I thought about a narrative setting not about the actual band, I felt that this song could be portrayed around a back drop instead of focusing on the band itself. It's a slow song in which the storyline must be more powerful and show a progression through a storyline until the end, the female singer will add to the different style of music video compared to the other groups in which they have a male centre of attention. Throughout the music video I feel that there should be a few cuts to long shots showing of the scenery as the lyrics suggest that song is implying the landscape around them.

Lyrics - The Chief of Seattle/Across the Sea

See it

Did you see it when you ran from the south to..

Hear it

Did you hear it when you hold that..

Cross the sea will find you there

Taken

To a world that's blessed with care

Hidden

Far away in a canyon stare

Cross the sea will find you there

Fell in love with the cold fresh air

Walked until the sky grew bare

Travelled our way to find you were already free

Didn't take much convincing to get you back across the sea

Travelled our way to find you were already free

Didn't take much convincing to get you back across the sea

Standing' 

On mountains where the white just grows

Seeing

No horizon just clouds and snow

Cross the sea will find you there

Fell in love with the cold fresh air

Walked until the sky grew bare

Travelled our way to find you were already free

Didn't take much convincing to get you back across the sea

Travelled our way to find you were already free

Didn't take much convincing to get you back across the sea

Wooooooh ooh oooh

ooooh oh oh oh

oooh oh oh ooh 

oooh oh oh oh

Travelled our way to find you were already free

Didn't take much convincing to get you back across the sea

Travelled our way to find you were already free

Didn't take much convincing to get you back across the sea