Monday 20 September 2010
Johnny Cash-"Hurt" Music Video
This song is a cover by Nine Inch Nails. It is the last song he recorded before his death.
At the start of the video he is a semi-dark room which could mean that he feels his life is drawing to an end. He is sitting in quite a big chair which could show he feels he is almost like a king as its a throne looking chair. While he is in his chair he is showing some archive footage from his past it shows things like home movies and music videos. One of the first things shown in the footage is of the American flag. The close up on his face shows a lot of emotion and feeling as it is a thoughtful song and has a lot of emotion to it.
In the video there is a direct shot of his mom when he says the lines "Everyone i know goes away in the end". This shows that he misses a his mom a lot that is why the shot is used to show her picture. After this there is a lot of footage shown from his past with things like his performance in a prison. Then it shows some footage from his museum with the lyrics "my empire of dirt" this shows that his time is over as the big star and there is quite a powerful shot used on a broken award with a record inside of it shows that he is yesterday's news.
It then moves on the table with a huge banquet on it. This is showing even though he has a lot of stuff he now has no one to share it with anymore. Then there is a tribute to his wife who also died shortly after the making of this music video. Archive footage used with his wife. This is because she is one of the most important things in his life.
Then at the end the footage is getting faster and keeping up with the guitar and has powerful images with his past and links to Jesus being nailed to the cross.
The lyrics have a great influence on cash and the way he feels. The start when he is saying "I hurt myself today to see if i still feel the pain" this is a link to self harming cause he feels dead relation to being on drugs and that feeling of being empty when you take them. "the needle tears a hole the old familiar sting" this is another reference to drugs probably injecting heroin. "Try to kill it away but i remember everything" shows him trying to get away from reality. The first verse is almost his reflection on his past.
The chorus is then again showing his links to drugs with the line "what have i become my sweetest friend" but then is starts showing links to people he has lots and how he doesn't want fame anymore and that he is letting his fans down with the line i will make you hurt.
Verse two is showing how he feels now he has got older also has links to religion with the use of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore. He also knows he can't rewrite his past "full of broken thoughts i cannot repair".
The last chorus shows how if he could he would change his life and not become a singer.
Thursday 16 September 2010
Documentary Code and Conventions
It is key at the start of a documentary to capture the audience attention as quick as possible. There is many ways of doing this.
First of all you need to make the point of the documentary clear from the start in order for the audience to understand what it is going to be about. For example at the start of a documentary they will ask the question why are British teenage pregnancy on rise ? or why young adults drink lots of alcohol? It will probably show some footage of what the show is about and snippets off people that will be interviewed in the show. Also at the start of the show they might have some music they is relevant to the documentary(it must not override the voice over used).
Over codes and conventions:
Actuality- Filming real events as they are happening. This could be following soldiers fighting in the war or filming a storm stuff like that is hard though that is why archive footage is important.
Fly on the Wall- This is where you film people doing real in their lives e.g follow the average day of a solider see what happens in the day shows ups and downs.
Voice Overs- Used in most documentaries have one. It tells what it is about and gives us key info about the topic
Graphics- Usually use graphics with texts, maps, drawings, still photographs in the opening sequence.
Interviews- An expert interview with someone who has knowledge of your topic. This is vital as you need someone who can give a good side of the story instead of some average Joe of the street.
Vox Pops- This is a random interview with someone ordinary of the the street used with a mic and hand held cam.
Talking Head- A shot of someone talking to the camera as a presenter of the documentary.
Music- Critical for the opening sequence but should not dominate the voice over needs a clear balance.
First of all you need to make the point of the documentary clear from the start in order for the audience to understand what it is going to be about. For example at the start of a documentary they will ask the question why are British teenage pregnancy on rise ? or why young adults drink lots of alcohol? It will probably show some footage of what the show is about and snippets off people that will be interviewed in the show. Also at the start of the show they might have some music they is relevant to the documentary(it must not override the voice over used).
Over codes and conventions:
Actuality- Filming real events as they are happening. This could be following soldiers fighting in the war or filming a storm stuff like that is hard though that is why archive footage is important.
Fly on the Wall- This is where you film people doing real in their lives e.g follow the average day of a solider see what happens in the day shows ups and downs.
Voice Overs- Used in most documentaries have one. It tells what it is about and gives us key info about the topic
Graphics- Usually use graphics with texts, maps, drawings, still photographs in the opening sequence.
Interviews- An expert interview with someone who has knowledge of your topic. This is vital as you need someone who can give a good side of the story instead of some average Joe of the street.
Vox Pops- This is a random interview with someone ordinary of the the street used with a mic and hand held cam.
Talking Head- A shot of someone talking to the camera as a presenter of the documentary.
Music- Critical for the opening sequence but should not dominate the voice over needs a clear balance.
Tyson Documentary
As part of the A2 media coursework we get three choices(documentary,music or short film). To help my understanding of the three i will be learning all the basic codes and conventions to the three so i don't make mistakes when i make my work.
In the lesson i watched the documentary on the the world famous boxer Mike Tyson. Watching it helped my understanding of how to make a decent start to a documentary.
It is also quite interesting as the character of Tyson is interesting because of his long and checkered career.
At the start of the film there is music used from the rocky films. This is used to reflect on the parallels between him and rocky as they were both boxers. In with the music the archive footage starts of his heavyweight fight against Trevor Berbick. This is effective because it is starting to build us into what the documentary will be about. Showing him at his best at the start is quite good as it draws the audience in as they will want to know more about what will happen though out the documentary.
The editing at the start is very good as well. The split screens show the tyson talking the voice over is mixed into a clever editing piece as it has personal touch with Tyson doing the voice over as it is about him so he is gonna give the his thought and reflect on his life. The editing with the spilt screen uses his face so with the voice over and his face looking directly into the camera which looks almost like he is looking at us like we are his opponent. This is a real good piece of editing as it is blending in past in at the same time.
The archive footage shown as well is brilliant. At the start it is showing him at the start of his major career but it also has footage from his hometown and pictures and videos from when he become a major influence on the boxing world.The graphics used for his name or in like a fire colour which shows his power in the world of boxing.
In the lesson i watched the documentary on the the world famous boxer Mike Tyson. Watching it helped my understanding of how to make a decent start to a documentary.
It is also quite interesting as the character of Tyson is interesting because of his long and checkered career.
At the start of the film there is music used from the rocky films. This is used to reflect on the parallels between him and rocky as they were both boxers. In with the music the archive footage starts of his heavyweight fight against Trevor Berbick. This is effective because it is starting to build us into what the documentary will be about. Showing him at his best at the start is quite good as it draws the audience in as they will want to know more about what will happen though out the documentary.
The editing at the start is very good as well. The split screens show the tyson talking the voice over is mixed into a clever editing piece as it has personal touch with Tyson doing the voice over as it is about him so he is gonna give the his thought and reflect on his life. The editing with the spilt screen uses his face so with the voice over and his face looking directly into the camera which looks almost like he is looking at us like we are his opponent. This is a real good piece of editing as it is blending in past in at the same time.
The archive footage shown as well is brilliant. At the start it is showing him at the start of his major career but it also has footage from his hometown and pictures and videos from when he become a major influence on the boxing world.The graphics used for his name or in like a fire colour which shows his power in the world of boxing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)