Michel Maffesoli is a French Sociologist who discovered the theory about 'Urban Tribes.' According to Maffesoli urban tribes are micro groups of people who share common interests in urban areas. These small groups of people tend to have similar views on the world, dress sense and behaviour patterns. They also share a common interest in urban areas. An example of a urban tribe would be the 'Punks.' Shown below, famous for their bright mow hawk hair styles, extravagant make up styles and leather clothes. They all seem to share similar ideas about music taste, listening to rock and punk music together. Drugs, drinking and sex can also be seen as an important part of their life styles.
Myself i think i would belong to the 'Rahs' tribe. Males and Females who follow high street fashion within shops like Topshop/Topman and New Look. Sometimes they follow more expensive clothing lines such as Jack Wills. People from this Urban tribe are normally from a more Upper Class background although this has probably been downplayed since birth. This group is very apparent within society and people who follow this tribe are either loved or loathed by people outside of the group.
Different groups with consume music in their own way. For the 'Rahs' we consume music by listening to the radio while doing our make up in the morning. Through our Iphones while on the move and maybe using music channels on TV in the evenings. Music is quite key and an interest but isn't necessary. It is more apparent on weekend nights when socialising and partying is involved. Different music genres are linked to Urban Tribes and this is normally recognised within society. For example the 'Chavs' - Council house and violent are known for wearing tracksuits, fake Burberry and consuming lots of alcohol. They would listen to rap/grime music. You will normally see them consuming this media by playing the music out loud on their mobile phones or loud while driving around in their cars. An example of a song a 'Chav' might listen to is shown above. It is called 'Who's Dat,' and it is sung by DJ Cameo and Paperbwoy feat The Grime Wave. The artist's in the video represent the same Urban Tribe by wearing tracksuits and heavy chains.
An example of another Urban Tribe is the Metal Heads. Similar to Punks but a lot darker and more Gothic influence. They are known for dressing mainly in black leather and Doc Martin boots and wearing lots of silver metal on their bodies and clothes.They would listen to heavy metal rock bands like Slipknot or My Chemical Romance.Consuming their favourite music would probably be through using their headphones and Ipod or at a Rock or Metal Concert. To the right shows a video from the Heavy Rock band 'Slipknot' called 'Psychosocial,' the video reflects the Urban Tribe well as the video is very dark and gothic. The costumes and fire in the background add an element of danger and fear as they are quite creepy to look at. The singers also scream some parts of the song in a husky scary voice which adds to the effect.
Before doing my full music video I did a preliminary task to gain a bit more experience in filming a music video and editing it. Above shows the finished edit of Miley Cyrus's song '7 Things.'
What went well ?
-All of the props and costumes we needed to copy from the original video were things we already had from home. -The background of the video (grey screen) was easy to find, we used a photography studio we found in our college. -From an editing point of view the continuity is quite sharp, the clips all seem to run smoothly one after the other to give it a professional look. -In the original video it was all shot in the same location, so we managed to do all our filming quite quickly in the same place. -I think the soft lighting works well as it doesn't look too harsh and is more airbrushed and clean like how the lighting in a music video looks.
What would I improve for next time?
-The lip syncing is a little bit off time in some parts of my video. To improve this next time I think it would have been better to actually sing the part of the song and then mute the clip in editing to make sure the movements of the mouth are in time and they look more realistic. -Include either clips from the original video of the band playing or film my own so that it is even more like the original video and gives the audience something else to look at.
Below shows screen shots comparing the original Miley Cyrus video and my re-make.
The lighting used in the Miley Cyrus video is quite simple, it looks like it was filmed in a studio with soft lighting to highlight areas of people's faces. The lighting is quite flattering and plain. As you can see in the screen shots below we tried to copy this grey background with soft lighting in our studio. It did work well but I think we should have used more soft lighting around the face of the person singing to highlight their face and almost airbrush it, like in the Miley Cyrus video.
We also tried using similar props to the original video to match the look in the Miley Cyrus one. This include a rose, teddies, a mobile phone and a snow globe.
Todorov, the Bulgarian Philosopher developed his own ideas about Narrative structures of media texts. He came up with a theory which was the norm to him and what he believed to be correct. We can apply this to music videos.
His theory starts off with an Equilibrium- this is where everything is normal and as it should be. There is then a disruption to the Equilibrium- this upsets the normal balance of life. Then something effects the hero- this is the recognition of the disruption. There is then an attempt to repair the disruption and the hero continues on with his quest. Equilibrium is then restored, not exactly the way it was before but the hero defeats the villain.
An example of a music video that agrees with this theory is from the band Blur for their song Coffee and TV.
The Narrative begins with the family being happy and all together this is the Equilibrium. However then the Son goes missing, this is a disruption to their normal equilibrium and upsets the family. Pictures are posted on milk cartons to help to track him down. As shown in the screen shot above.
The milk carton then tries to cheer the family up with his dancing as he sees how upset they are. This is where the milk carton or the 'Hero' recognises something is wrong with the families equilibrium. He becomes upset because he sees how upset they are so he goes off on his mission to find the missing person.
The milk carton then attempts to repair the disruption, he goes on a quest to find the missing man. He speaks to different people- shown in the screen shots to the right to see if they have any information for him to help find the missing man.
The milk carton then discovers the missing man playing in a band. He brings him back to his family and they are over joyed.
This is the part where the Equilibrium is restored. However it isn't exactly as it was before because the milk carton then dies.
An example of a music video that disagrees with Todorov's theory is Coldplay's song 'The Scientist.' It tells the story of a couple that are in a car crash. However it goes back in time. Chris Martin, the lead singer walks backwards through out the whole video. Back in time until he reaches just before the crash happened. It doesn't go in chronological order like Todorov's theory states is correct.
Other Narrative features that music videos use could be: Multi-stranded... where different of different narratives are woven together. Fragmented... where different parts of narratives that may not be woven together are put in any order. Flashbacks... a part of the narrative that portrays something that has happened in the past.
Modernism was a Social/Art and Political movement that aimed to reinvent culture that people felt had become outdated. This was roughly between the 1890s-1960s. In reaction to this from the 1970s Postmodernism occurred. Postmodernism was a break of the rules, the breakdown of the barriers between genres and styles. In media texts things were mixed up, for example time, space and narrative. Fiction, reality and representation were blurred together also. People became more used to a mediated version of reality rather than a reality itself. This is called Hyperreality and is there theory from Bandrillard. There are different ways in which a music video could be seen as Postmodernist. If one media text makes a reference to another this is called Intertextuality. A parody is when someone mocks something else in an original way. A Homage or Pastione is when an artist works in a style that imitates that of another work, artist or period. This is a self-conscious imitation. Finally a Bricolage is mixing up and using different genres and styles.
Myself i think i would belong to the 'Rahs' tribe. Males and Females who follow high street fashion within shops like Topshop/Topman and New Look. Sometimes they follow more expensive clothing lines such as Jack Wills. People from this Urban tribe are normally from a more Upper Class background although this has probably been downplayed since birth. This group is very apparent within society and people who follow this tribe are either loved or loathed by people outside of the group.
Different groups with consume music in their own way. For the 'Rahs' we consume music by listening to the radio while doing our make up in the morning. Through our Iphones while on the move and maybe using music channels on TV in the evenings. Music is quite key and an interest but isn't necessary. It is more apparent on weekend nights when socialising and partying is involved.
