Candidate 1 Explain how meaning is constructed by the use of media language in one of your coursework productions (June 2012) Every medium has its own “Language”, for example, film has a different language to that of music videos, as suggested by Carol Vernallis, who described the 4 key concepts that all relate to the way the Music Video is constructed. The meaning and message of our Opening Sequence was constructed using a variety of Media Language, from Editing, and Sound to Misé en scene and Camerawork. One of the key meanings we attempted to convey in our Opening Sequence, was that our protagonist was a sexual character, however, as Bonus-Umberto Eco argues, texts can have open meanings, leaving room for ambiguity. We apply this, as although we imply our protagonist is sexual, and sexually active, we never confirm by including condoms or birth control in the misé en scene. This was mainly presented through our use of misé en scene, particularly our character's costume. Her outfit was comprised primarily of skimpy clothing items, such as a black bodycon skirt and low-cut, white top with a tiger on the front. Her hot pink bra, a colour traditionally associated with lust and attraction, was on show for the audience throughout the course of the two minutes, presenting her as a sexy. She was wearing leopard-print and red stiletto heels which convey confidence and sex appeal, re-emphasised by her short skirt, highlighting her legs Laura Mulvey's “Gaze” theory is applicable because, through using the misé en scene of Media Language, the audience, particularly the males, are directed to treat this female protagonist as a sexual creature, through the attention paid to the erogenous zones on her body e.g. Her legs and breasts. Other piece of misé en scene were used to convey the same meaning. The make-up items, such as the mascara “Thick and Fast” and the moisturiser “Glow Job”, all use sexual innuendo in their titles to reaffirm this idea of that protagonist as a sexual creature. We had initially wanted to use the background song of “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado, which would re-enhance this idea of a cougar-like, sexual predator, already introduced through our use of leopard-print on the stiletto heals and tiger on her shirt. However, we were not allowed to due to copyright, unfortunately. The camerawork was also handy in conveying this meaning. During the mirror shots when the protagonist is applying make-up, we used an extra close-up to zoom-in on her lips, which were painted red, a colour which is related to sexual attraction and promiscuity. Her eyes are also highlighted through the use of a close-up while the character is applying mascara. We also used a medium shot of her bare legs in a towel, and extra close-up, level shot of her feet stepping into her stiletto's, highlighting the item and its sexual connotations. The idea of the character as ultra-feminine was presented using the Media Language of Sound, Editing and Misé en scene. Charles Sanders Peirce stated “We think only in
signs”, and we signal the ultra-femininity of our protagonist through the background music. The two tracks, “Yearbook Long” and “Clear” are upbeat, peppy, and conventional of Romantic-Comedies, making them quite feminine as they are associated with being used in films that target females primarily as their audience. We used a variety of quick-cuts in the Opening Sequence to add a smooth, fluidity to the camera shots, and ordered the shots of the make-up and set (e.g. Pink wallpaper, duvet and pillows, and magazines) together, to highlight the feminine feel of the Opening Sequence and protagonist’s environment, which subsequently reflects her character. We also used a bright-effect on the footage so that a peppy, cheerful and feminine feel was re-emphasised. The predominantly pink misé en scene also highlights the feminine aspect of the protagonist’s character, as pink is a colour traditionally associated with girls.
meaning is constructed by the use of media language is one your coursework productions Media Language means the way that meaning is made, using the conventions of the particular medium (film or music video) and type of media product (horror film or pop music video). It is about considering how media texts communicate There is a language of pop music video and I created mine using the codes and conventions that I found from real pop videos. One of the meanings I created was having a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals in an illustrative way. This is shown in my music video when my artist sings, “I like it here, So much space, Open free where I wanna be�. The visual is her in a park where there is so much room and space her, this links well with the lyrics. Therefore, it shows that the actions within the music video match perfectly with the lyrics but its subtler and less noticeable compare to amplifying music videos that I have looked at. Andrew Goodwin also feels that language in music videos is that artist needs to sell themselves towards their audience. This could be done through the demand of the record label. I used this meaning by doing what the record label demands which is using close ups instead of extreme mid shots. I found that in all pop music videos, a heavy emphasis is placed on the main artist. What we did was use many close ups as possible throughout our music video to show that she is the lead singer. Another meaning I used in my music video was have near equal amounts of other key shots like mid shots and long shots to establish the mise-en-scene in the frame. I wanted to show the audience the way my artist dressed by making her look smart and elegant. Using shots like mid shots and long shots helped represent my artist as sophisticated by of all the different costumes used she always looked mature and these costumes also stopped her looking as the opposite of how we wanted to represent her which is as a sex symbol. Furthermore, according to Carol Vernallis' theory which centres around 4 key concepts that all relate to the way the music video is constructed (how it creates meaning). These concepts being narrative, editing, camera Movement & framing and sound. I used the narrative meaning by having a love story between the artist and someone else. Such as when they were walking in the park in a long shot. For the editing meaning, I did use this by the majority of clips being 5 seconds of shorter to speed up the rate of editing. This is because a convention I found was that all pop videos had frequent cuts in between to show the artist in a new shot. In my music video this is shown when there my artist is in a a close up singing towards the camera, then in the next shot walking in a mid shot singing.