Life behind Bars By Louis Theroux
Anaylsis of the first 5 minutes
An establishing shot is used to show the location of where he is San-Quinton prison, which is a very famous prison most noted for the most dangerous sort of criminals to be imprisoned, on such offences as murder. Louis Theroux is on his way to interview a criminal David Silver, the shots used are mainly close-ups and medium close-up showing Davis Silver behind bars in a prison outside. From this shot we see his uniforms and cell, which creates a bleak picture for the rest of the documentary.
Another close-up is used when one of the prison officers unlocks the cell so Louis Therox can interview the inmate properly, shot-reverse-shot is used when talking to him of his life sentences, which include a pans and tilt showing the cell. Many long, medium and close-up shots are used showing the surroundings and environment the prisoners live in. The medium close ups also show Louis Theroux wearing a stab proof vest demonstrating the dangerousness of the prison.
There isn't much use of editing but there are fade-in and fade outs when a new scene is shown, shot-reverse-shot is used when Louis Theroux interviews different inmates/officers. The camera can become quite handheld at times maybe to show the realness of their situation and reality of what's being shown.
As it is a documentary Louis Theroux uses a voice-over telling the audiences of his thoughts of what's happening and facts and informing us about the prison, when a voice over is not used either ambient sound of background noise such as the mass amounts of other inmates talking, or non-diegetic music is used which is quite edgy and dark at times to illustrate the seriousness of the scene and mood.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Documentaries
Supersize Me
Analysis of the first 5 mintues
The documentary opens up with diegetic music of children singing a fast food song "Pizza Hut" the screen then shows a big group of children singing the song aged 8-11, the camera then uses a pans still showing the children singing the song, the camera then zooms into a child who is larger then the other children, who is falling behind with his singing and the actions that go with the song. The camera purposely focuses on the boy as he demonstrates what the documentary is about, and that by eating fast food you become over-weight, breathless and become tired more easily.
The scene ends and fades into a quote "Look after the customers and the business will take care of itself" Ray Kroc McDonald's founder, quotes are often used in documentaries to inform the audience. This then goes back into the children singing which fades into non-diegetic music of a flute with ambient sound background noise such as people and traffic. The camera zooms out of the American flag which is the cue for the voice-over of Morgan Spurlock, while he's talking images of what he is saying are being show illustrating what's being said. The pace of the editing is very quick paced with the shots and voice-over.
Short Story
In class our media teacher showed us a clip of a short story which was very random and abstract-like, the clip was all in black and white and was featured back in time. There was know clear storyline within the video but was about three characters living in London. There was non-diegetic music all the way throughout.
Analysis of the first 5 mintues
The documentary opens up with diegetic music of children singing a fast food song "Pizza Hut" the screen then shows a big group of children singing the song aged 8-11, the camera then uses a pans still showing the children singing the song, the camera then zooms into a child who is larger then the other children, who is falling behind with his singing and the actions that go with the song. The camera purposely focuses on the boy as he demonstrates what the documentary is about, and that by eating fast food you become over-weight, breathless and become tired more easily.
The scene ends and fades into a quote "Look after the customers and the business will take care of itself" Ray Kroc McDonald's founder, quotes are often used in documentaries to inform the audience. This then goes back into the children singing which fades into non-diegetic music of a flute with ambient sound background noise such as people and traffic. The camera zooms out of the American flag which is the cue for the voice-over of Morgan Spurlock, while he's talking images of what he is saying are being show illustrating what's being said. The pace of the editing is very quick paced with the shots and voice-over.
Short Story
In class our media teacher showed us a clip of a short story which was very random and abstract-like, the clip was all in black and white and was featured back in time. There was know clear storyline within the video but was about three characters living in London. There was non-diegetic music all the way throughout.
Questionnaire
Audience Feedback
For my audience research I produced a questionnaire about music videos and about the band Muse, I did this to get a better insight into what people like about music videos. By doing this it gave me a better indication of what people wanted in a music video and whether my idea of a music video would be a good concept with the chosen song. My questionnaire consisted of 10 questions and was given to 10 individual respondents, the questionnaire involved both males and females, the demographic was mostly aimed at teenagers, which ranged from 17-19. This gave me an idea of what young people wanted and what they found interesting
about different styles of music videos.
Over half of the respondents choose Kerrang and MTV as they're favourite T.V channel with only 30% choosing TMF, 50% choose Indie music as there favourite genre, with 40% choosing Dance, 30% of people opting for Pop music and a minority of 20% choosing Rap. This indicates that the majority of people like Indie music which is a favourite with channels such as MTV.
Many people liked music videos for the simple reasons such as wanting to see the band perform, others like music videos for there creativity and their style of the music video. Often people liked the narrative and storyline, they liked to see the video have more depth that could enhance the song.
The majority of the respondents had heard of the band Muse and several of they're songs many liked "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Plug in Baby", this showed that people were familiar with their types of videos and style of music.
By conducting the questionnaire we found out that by choosing Muse it was the right idea to have a abstract/artist video, it also helped that people were fans of Muse and could related the lyrics. By finding out this information we could see we were heading in the right direction, as Muse would be normally shown on channels such as MTV and Kerrang, that people like the genre of music and that but by creating an abstract video would completely fit with the style of song.
For my audience research I produced a questionnaire about music videos and about the band Muse, I did this to get a better insight into what people like about music videos. By doing this it gave me a better indication of what people wanted in a music video and whether my idea of a music video would be a good concept with the chosen song. My questionnaire consisted of 10 questions and was given to 10 individual respondents, the questionnaire involved both males and females, the demographic was mostly aimed at teenagers, which ranged from 17-19. This gave me an idea of what young people wanted and what they found interesting
about different styles of music videos. Over half of the respondents choose Kerrang and MTV as they're favourite T.V channel with only 30% choosing TMF, 50% choose Indie music as there favourite genre, with 40% choosing Dance, 30% of people opting for Pop music and a minority of 20% choosing Rap. This indicates that the majority of people like Indie music which is a favourite with channels such as MTV.
Many people liked music videos for the simple reasons such as wanting to see the band perform, others like music videos for there creativity and their style of the music video. Often people liked the narrative and storyline, they liked to see the video have more depth that could enhance the song.
The majority of the respondents had heard of the band Muse and several of they're songs many liked "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Plug in Baby", this showed that people were familiar with their types of videos and style of music.
By conducting the questionnaire we found out that by choosing Muse it was the right idea to have a abstract/artist video, it also helped that people were fans of Muse and could related the lyrics. By finding out this information we could see we were heading in the right direction, as Muse would be normally shown on channels such as MTV and Kerrang, that people like the genre of music and that but by creating an abstract video would completely fit with the style of song.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Muse
Who are Muse?
For my music video I have chosen the song "Supermassive Black Hole" from the album "The Resistance" from the band Muse which is an English alternative rock band that consists of three members Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard, the chosen song "Supermassive Black Hole" is a metaphor for emotions and that the lead singer is singing about a character who is emotionaly empty and all his feelings mean nothing.
Background Information
Muse are a multi award-winning English alternative rock band that formed in Teignmouth, Devon in 1994. Since its inception, the band has comprised vocalist, guitarist and pianist Matthew Bellamy; bassist and backing vocalist Christopher Wolstenholme; and drummer Dominic Howard. Muse are known for their energetic and extravagant live performances and their fusion of many music genres, including progressive rock, classical music and electronica.
Muse have released five studio albums – Showbiz (1999); Origin of Symmetry (2001); Absolution (2003); Black Holes and Revelations (2006), which earned the band a Mercury Prize nomination and a third place finish in the NME Albums of the Year list for 2006;[6] and The Resistance (2009). Muse have won many other music awards throughout their career, including five MTV Europe Music Awards, five Q Awards, six NME Awards, two BRIT awards and four Kerrang! Awards. The majority of these awards have been attributed to their live performances.
(Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_(band)
For my music video I have chosen the song "Supermassive Black Hole" from the album "The Resistance" from the band Muse which is an English alternative rock band that consists of three members Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard, the chosen song "Supermassive Black Hole" is a metaphor for emotions and that the lead singer is singing about a character who is emotionaly empty and all his feelings mean nothing.
Background Information
Muse are a multi award-winning English alternative rock band that formed in Teignmouth, Devon in 1994. Since its inception, the band has comprised vocalist, guitarist and pianist Matthew Bellamy; bassist and backing vocalist Christopher Wolstenholme; and drummer Dominic Howard. Muse are known for their energetic and extravagant live performances and their fusion of many music genres, including progressive rock, classical music and electronica.
Muse have released five studio albums – Showbiz (1999); Origin of Symmetry (2001); Absolution (2003); Black Holes and Revelations (2006), which earned the band a Mercury Prize nomination and a third place finish in the NME Albums of the Year list for 2006;[6] and The Resistance (2009). Muse have won many other music awards throughout their career, including five MTV Europe Music Awards, five Q Awards, six NME Awards, two BRIT awards and four Kerrang! Awards. The majority of these awards have been attributed to their live performances.
(Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_(band)
Saturday, 3 October 2009
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