Intertextuality in Music Videos Part 3

  Another example of the use of intertextuality can be seen in Eminem's music video for his song 'We Made You'. Althought the video references other texts it is more of a parody, which is also a form of intertextuality.

The music video is a parody of the television series Rock of Love and Star Trek, as well as Eminem singing in a background of an imitation version of the notes of the video game Guitar Hero while the casino-based sequence in the video is an homage to the film Rain Man, a film Eminem has previously referenced in his lyrics. The casino scene was shot in The Palms hotel and casino. References to Nanook of the North are also made, especially seen in the scenes with Sarah Palin, those scenes parodying Larry Flynt's Who's Nailin' Paylin?. There is also an homage to Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho.
On April 3, 2009, Eminem talked about the music video in an MTV News interview, stating that there is some "Celebrity bashing in it," which is often a feature of his album's lead singles. In addition to Sarah Palin, notable celebrities mocked using look-alike actresses and actors include Jessica Simpson, Bret Michaels, Britney Spears, Kevin Federline, Lindsay Lohan, Samantha Ronson, Amy Winehouse and her then-husband Blake Fielder-Civil, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Elvis Presley, Tony Romo, John Mayer, Jennifer Aniston, and Kim Kardashian. Eminem even spoofed himself, wearing an ALF t-shirt and holding a cake, referencing a commonly circulated pre-fame photo of him of when he was a youth. This Music Video also marks the return of Eminem's alter ego "Slim Shady".

Parody of 'Star Trek'

Parody of Ellen DeGenere talk show

Parody of Britney Spears 'Give Me More' music video

Advanced Portfolio - Technical Codes

Today in class we talked about what are the generic rules of music videos in terms of editing and camera work.

 We established that the role of the camera is to make the performance more dynamic and/or energetic, so that the artist or band are shown in an appealing way to the viewer and consumer. The camera should always be following the performance, and unlike in films it should not be centered around telling a narrative, it should be very abstract (with a variety of different shots and movements)because music videos are not meant to represent reality but the abstract world of the artist. 

 Another important role of the camera is to sell us the artist, this is done by using close-ups and framing. Close-ups of the artists in music videos create a sense of intimacy between the consumer and the performer this important because then we begin to like the singer and are more likely to recognize their face in stores and on billboards. Close-ups show that the artist is a commodity on sale.

We also talked about editing, and how that is used in music videos.
The most common form of editing we see in music videos is montage, which is fast cut and fast paced, it is used in many genres of music but usually for quick songs.
Slow songs are slow paced and have gentler transitions to establish the mood.
It is important that the pace of the editing matches the pace of the song.

Another thing that is common in editing is that the main artist is usually given more screen time, meaning that the duration of the shot on a particular artist relates to how important they are, for example if you are editing a music video for a band you would usually give and equal amount of screen time to all the band mates but the most to the 'leader' or the main person.

Another part of editing is the post production and special effects and digital effects. In films and TV shows special effects  are meant to be very realistic and life like and verisimilitude but in music videos special effects are there to make the whole piece more abstract, interesting and thought provoking. Sometimes digital enhancing is just used to make the video more dynamic.

Below is a music video that is a good example of the things I talked about in this post:

 This music video uses a lot of close-ups on the artist Jessie J, this familiarities the viewer with her image, her persona, and style.
Camerawork and special effects are also making the video more exciting than it actually is, she is just dancing and singing in front of a colorful background but because of the fast paced editing, the varied camera shots and movements, and the special effects (like the lens flare and the blur) we as the viewer can stand to watch her without being completely bored.

Lip Sync Activity

This is my lip sync video that I filmed over the summer. The song is 'Call me maybe' by Carly Rae Jepsen, I chose this song because at the time it was popular and I liked it, it is also upbeat and fun, although in hindsight I wish I had done a different song because this one is really overplayed and has gotten really annoying. I also wish I had got someone else to help me film this because having the camera stationary on a tripod really made the video dull, boring and repetitive, I also did not notice that behind me, in the background you can see the light switch and once you notice it its really distracting .
When it came to editing the footage I used windows movie maker because that was the only editing software I had on my computer, it was easy to use and the footage was all shot in one take so syncing up with the music was really simple.