Summer Camp does not look like the band they have portrayed to be through their blogs and videos.
Hyperreality is a means to characterise the way consciousness defines what is actually 'real' in a world where a multitude of media can radically shape and filter an original event or experience.
Often, a 'copy' can replace the original.
1.A magazine photo of a model that has been touched up with a computer.
2.Films in which characters and settings are either digitally enhanced or created entirely from CGI (e.g.: 300, where the entire film was shot in front of a blue/green screen, with all settings super-imposed).
3.A well manicured garden (nature as hyperreal).
4.Any massively promoted versions of historical or present "facts" (e.g. "General Ignorance" from QI, where the questions have seemingly obvious answers, which are actually wrong).
5.Professional sports athletes as super, invincible versions of the human beings.
6.Many world cities and places which did not evolve as functional places with some basis in reality, as if they were creatio ex nihilo (literally 'creation out of nothing'): Disney World;Dubai; Celebration, Florida; and Las Vegas.
7.TV and film in general (especially "reality" TV), due to its creation of a world of fantasy and its dependence that the viewer will engage with these fantasy worlds. The current trend is to glamorize the mundane using histrionics.
8.A retail store that looks completely stocked and perfect due to facing, creating a world of endless identical products.
9.A life which cannot be (e.g. the perfect facsimile of a celebrity's invented persona).
10.A high end sex doll used as a simulacrum of a bodily or psychologically unattainable partner.
11.A newly made building or item designed to look old, or to recreate or reproduce an older artifact, by simulating the feel of age or aging.
12.Constructed languages (such as E-Prime) or "reconstructed" extinct dialects.
13.Second Life The distinction becomes blurred when it becomes the platform for RL (Real Life) courses and conferences, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or leads to real world interactions behind the scenes.
14.Weak virtual reality which is greater than any possible simulation of physical reality
Wednesday 29 February 2012
How have you combined the "same but different" and the "familiar and the unexcepted" in your final piece?
For the final music video we used real media conventions to make our product fit the genre. For example we had watched several OneRepublic videos and took the idea of shooting in the city as it linked to the lyrics and the luxurious lifestyle of pop bands. To improve the quality of our video we used a HD camera as the audience would expect a pop video to be high quality to show celebrity and luxury status. Although we weren't originally going to use performance in our video we realised that as most pop music videos mix narrative and performance it looked empty without it and the visuals did not connect enough with the music.
From Ed Sheeran's music video A Team which is shot in black and white to give the city a gritty, depressing look we decided to take this into our video to show a clear contrast between city and country, which we shot in colour.
In a lot of pop music videos there is usually a romantic storyline between the lead singer and a female character we took this idea and made this the part of the plot, although the lost country girl in the city is still the main theme of the narrative. This storyline was inspired by Ed Sheeran's A Team however we changed it and gave her the escape to the country as this fitted better with the lyrics which are quite positive.
For my digipak I took the cover of OneRepublic's album Dreaming Out Loud and adapted the tree design to reflect the concept of city vs country with the roots resembling the London underground map and the tree reflecting the colourful countryside. Concept albums are used a lot by bands to attract a larger audience as it is seen as quite artistic and not "manufactured" pop. For example, Coldplay's Viva La Vida following the theme of the French Revolution which inspired use to create a concept of city vs country to follow across the music video, digipak and poster.
From Ed Sheeran's music video A Team which is shot in black and white to give the city a gritty, depressing look we decided to take this into our video to show a clear contrast between city and country, which we shot in colour.
In a lot of pop music videos there is usually a romantic storyline between the lead singer and a female character we took this idea and made this the part of the plot, although the lost country girl in the city is still the main theme of the narrative. This storyline was inspired by Ed Sheeran's A Team however we changed it and gave her the escape to the country as this fitted better with the lyrics which are quite positive.
For my digipak I took the cover of OneRepublic's album Dreaming Out Loud and adapted the tree design to reflect the concept of city vs country with the roots resembling the London underground map and the tree reflecting the colourful countryside. Concept albums are used a lot by bands to attract a larger audience as it is seen as quite artistic and not "manufactured" pop. For example, Coldplay's Viva La Vida following the theme of the French Revolution which inspired use to create a concept of city vs country to follow across the music video, digipak and poster.
Bricoloage.
Bricolage - Changing traditional objects and words to give them subversive meanings e.g. Punk with the safety pin - To rebel, using something that was used to hold a nappy together on a baby, they have changed the meaning by wearing it as a piercing .
Found footage - Already made clips put together, creating a new meaning.
Symbolic code - having the opposites next to each other e.g. fat wealthy man and a poor child.
Cool - 'something we like', also depends on the context - meaning how people see it.
Confidence is 'Cool'.
You do not have to be fashionable to be 'cool'. e.g. Michael McIntyre - 'Lad' - nice man and everyone likes him. - Links to popularity, being popular makes you 'cool'.
Uncool - can be cool. Ironically wearing the geek glasses, which makes them cool.
Being 'Too Cool' can be uncool, like you're trying too hard.
Peers, Journalists, Celebrities, influential people decide what is cool and the rest follow
Found footage - Already made clips put together, creating a new meaning.
Symbolic code - having the opposites next to each other e.g. fat wealthy man and a poor child.
Cool - 'something we like', also depends on the context - meaning how people see it.
Confidence is 'Cool'.
You do not have to be fashionable to be 'cool'. e.g. Michael McIntyre - 'Lad' - nice man and everyone likes him. - Links to popularity, being popular makes you 'cool'.
Uncool - can be cool. Ironically wearing the geek glasses, which makes them cool.
Being 'Too Cool' can be uncool, like you're trying too hard.
Peers, Journalists, Celebrities, influential people decide what is cool and the rest follow
Applying Summer Camp to Kramer's theories.
- Summer Camp is not simply a rejection of modernism or its continuation but has aspects of both a break and extension. The extension is where they use the distincive sound of the 80's e.g. synths and drum machines in their music. They take this but mix it with modern technology.
- Summer Camp is ironic because it is using what was cool for the 80's teenager and using in the present where it is not mainstream cool because it is not current and seen as too "old school" However, in terms of people who attempt to be different by not liking what is currently popular, it is cool because it does not appeal to the masses.
- It doesn't respect boundaries of procedures of past and present because it is a current active band now but has strong emphasis on 80's culture in music video, website and music.
- Summer Camp challenges barriers between "high" and "low" cultures by taking cheesy "bad" 80's music which is seen as low culture by mixing it with other styles and genres it makes it a higher style.
- Summer Camp's music doesn't follow structural unity because it doesn't have clear Disdain for the unquestioned value of structural unity -
- I don't think Summer Camp questions elitist and populist values because all though they are "cool" for some who expressly refuses to listen or like mainstream popular music, they aren't very popular enough to be popular while still having elitist elements.
- I don't think Summer Camp particularly avoids totalizing forms because their songs have a similar sound.
- In some ways Summer Camp considers music relevant to cultural and social contexts because of the strong 80's influence.
- They have a strong influence from 80's American culture and with in their work they use intertextual references, for example the gifs of the Halloween party features a man wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask.
- Summer Camp use technology in a way for the audience to interact more on their website through the way the samples of the songs have to be pressed and the audience have to find this out for themselves and can sample their music in a more interesting way, with a different clip for each song. So the music is produced by the audience as they are able to mix and play what they want its not just transmitted.
- They embraces contradictions, for their video "Round The Moon" they have used uncopyrighted footage from the 1970 Swedish film "En Karlekshistoria" this contradicts their style because they use an old footage with something brand new.
- I don't think Summer Camp shows examples of distrusting binary opposites, in fact I think they use binary opposites by portraying a very stereotypical girly girl and boyish boy.
- The way their music is sampled on the website could be seen as fragmentation and discontinuation because it's just a small section in a loop. Also by using footage of " En Karlekshistoria" they are creating a homage but it doesn't create completed, finished feel to the video.
- Summer Camp includes pluralism and eclecticism through their different sources of 80's culture.
- Presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities -
- Locates meaning and structure in listeners -
Jonathan Kramer - Postmodernism Music Theory.
A very interesting aspect of postmodern music theory. This will help you with your next essay.
Media Theorist Jonathan Kramer says "the idea that postmodernism is less a surface style or historical period than an attitude. Kramer goes on to say 16 "characteristics of postmodern music, by which I mean music that is understood in a postmodern manner, or that calls forth postmodern listening strategies, or that provides postmodern listening experiences, or that exhibits postmodern compositional practices."
According to Kramer (Kramer 2002, 16–17), postmodern music":
1. Is not simply a rejection of modernism or the way it pushes progress forward, but has aspects of both a break and an extension
2. Is, on some level and in some way, ironic
3. Does not respect boundaries between distincive sounds and procedures of the past and of the present
4. Challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles
5. Shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity
6. Questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values
7. Avoids totalizing forms (genred structures) (e.g., does not want entire pieces to be tonal or serial or cast in a prescribed formal mold)
8. Considers music not as independent but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts
9. Includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures
10. Considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music
11. Embraces contradictions
12. Distrusts binary oppositions (no good or bad/ right or wrong)
13. Includes fragmentations and discontinuities (no complete)
14. Encompasses pluralism and eclecticism
15. Presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities
16. Locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers
Jonathan Donald Kramer (December 7, 1942, Hartford, Connecticut – June 3, 2004, New York City), was a U.S. composer and music theorist.
Active as a music theorist, Kramer published primarily on theories of musical time and postmodernism. At the time of his death he had just completed a book on postmodern music and a cello composition for the American Holocaust Museum.
Media Theorist Jonathan Kramer says "the idea that postmodernism is less a surface style or historical period than an attitude. Kramer goes on to say 16 "characteristics of postmodern music, by which I mean music that is understood in a postmodern manner, or that calls forth postmodern listening strategies, or that provides postmodern listening experiences, or that exhibits postmodern compositional practices."
According to Kramer (Kramer 2002, 16–17), postmodern music":
1. Is not simply a rejection of modernism or the way it pushes progress forward, but has aspects of both a break and an extension
2. Is, on some level and in some way, ironic
3. Does not respect boundaries between distincive sounds and procedures of the past and of the present
4. Challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles
5. Shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity
6. Questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values
7. Avoids totalizing forms (genred structures) (e.g., does not want entire pieces to be tonal or serial or cast in a prescribed formal mold)
8. Considers music not as independent but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts
9. Includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures
10. Considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music
11. Embraces contradictions
12. Distrusts binary oppositions (no good or bad/ right or wrong)
13. Includes fragmentations and discontinuities (no complete)
14. Encompasses pluralism and eclecticism
15. Presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities
16. Locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers
Jonathan Donald Kramer (December 7, 1942, Hartford, Connecticut – June 3, 2004, New York City), was a U.S. composer and music theorist.
Active as a music theorist, Kramer published primarily on theories of musical time and postmodernism. At the time of his death he had just completed a book on postmodern music and a cello composition for the American Holocaust Museum.
Tuesday 28 February 2012
Discuss why some people are not convinced by the idea of postmodern media.
Postmodernism is a response to and rejection of modernism. Modernists wanted to look to the future and ignore the mistakes of the past, Postmodernists argue that it is not possible to only look to the future and not look to the past because you'd be repeating the mistakes which stops progress. Postmodernists often create texts by chance for fun rather than design them for a purpose. All the text will often go against media conventions, mixing genre, breaking down boundaries "there is no genre less text" and ignoring traditional narrative structures, like Jean Francois Lyotard's Grand Narratives. By using work from previous media texts Postmodernists are able to create something new either to respectfully pay homage to it or to mock it for comedy as a Pastiche. However a criticism of their use of intertextual references is that the audience have to know the source or understand the issue otherwise they won't understand the context of the joke. For example comedy programmes like The Simpsons and Family Guy are constantly making intertextual references to other texts. The criticism is that this makes it less accessible as a movement because it won't connect to the people who don't understand the reference. This is why some people are not convinced by postmodernism.
Another criticism of postmodernism is that to what extent is using intertextual references copying what has already been done? A good example of this is Dan Black's Symphonies who used the theory of Addition, Deletion, Substitution and Transposition to create his music video taking everything bar the lyrics from previous texts. He makes it very clear that he is using intertextual references which are easy to spot to make a point that nothing is original, which brings up the question to what extent is this his own work. Some people are concerned that originality will become completely lost and through postmodernism we will be reusing the same references and jokes over and over again.
To add to this the use of hyper-reality in everyday is making things less meaningful. For example, video games take something that could be real but isn't and make it real for a computerised version of ourselves which is then exaggerated but still seems realistic. Call of Duty, for example, takes an ordinary person and turns them into a solider who has an unlimited amount of lives and can choose the battleground and difficulty level. Thepostmodern game Desert Bus points out the ridiculousness of "realistic" video games because it is actually realistic; in real time a bus journey to Las Vegas and back with the possibility of breaking down which results in having to be towed back in real time, the game can't be paused just like reality can't be paused. Although this highlights the lack of reality in other video games some people would argue that it is pointless because the whole point of hyper-reality in games is to escape reality and become someone else who can do things that an "ordinary" person can't e.g. a solider, play in a rock band, manage a football team.
Another criticism of postmodernism is that to what extent is using intertextual references copying what has already been done? A good example of this is Dan Black's Symphonies who used the theory of Addition, Deletion, Substitution and Transposition to create his music video taking everything bar the lyrics from previous texts. He makes it very clear that he is using intertextual references which are easy to spot to make a point that nothing is original, which brings up the question to what extent is this his own work. Some people are concerned that originality will become completely lost and through postmodernism we will be reusing the same references and jokes over and over again.
To add to this the use of hyper-reality in everyday is making things less meaningful. For example, video games take something that could be real but isn't and make it real for a computerised version of ourselves which is then exaggerated but still seems realistic. Call of Duty, for example, takes an ordinary person and turns them into a solider who has an unlimited amount of lives and can choose the battleground and difficulty level. Thepostmodern game Desert Bus points out the ridiculousness of "realistic" video games because it is actually realistic; in real time a bus journey to Las Vegas and back with the possibility of breaking down which results in having to be towed back in real time, the game can't be paused just like reality can't be paused. Although this highlights the lack of reality in other video games some people would argue that it is pointless because the whole point of hyper-reality in games is to escape reality and become someone else who can do things that an "ordinary" person can't e.g. a solider, play in a rock band, manage a football team.
Monday 27 February 2012
Using conventions from real media texts.
Music magazine
Front cover:
Front cover:
- Features artist in centre - mid shot
- Masthead at top
- Rule of thirds
- Coverlines
- Important info in larger font
- Highlighting key articles
- Page numbers
- Clear layout
- Images of key articles
- Topics grouped together
- Adverts
- Heading
- Subheading
- Pull quotes
- Photo captions
- Image + text
- Interviews Q&A
- Info on band - recent news
- Colour scheme
- Consistent style across the pages
- Fonts
- Representation in photography
- Lip sync
- Narrative
- Performance aspect
- Connection between lyrics, music and visuals
- Representation
- Concepts
Monday 20 February 2012
Brian Eno - The Death of Uncool.
"No one is interested in one particular genre anymore, people take bits of what they like"
15 randomly shuffled songs from my iPod:
Music Playlist at MixPod.com
15 randomly shuffled songs from my iPod:
Music Playlist at MixPod.com
Wednesday 15 February 2012
DJ Audacity
Example of a pro-sumer 16 year old kid from Norway making songs by remixing songs.
The info from his Facebook page:
"From his room. DJ Audacity began producing at the age of late 15. With a passion for music since he was a child he found his calling making YouTube hit mixes that went viral with remixes of "Listen To Your Heart". His popularity has quickly risen gaining over 23 million views on YouTube in just a few months."
For this remix he took songs that had no obvious connection and made something new. He used the chorus from this country song
And mixed it with Haillie's Song by Eminem which is about his daughter.
And the lyrics of Bedrock by Lil Wayne and Gudda Gudda
This is a good example of a pro-sumer creation because he is just a teenager, mixing music at home using songs that have already been made. Using digital technology he is able to create something new then publish and advertise it on sites like YouTube and Facebook where he has received millions of views
http://www.youtube.com/user/RealDJAudacity
http://www.facebook.com/OfficialDJAudacity?sk=info
The info from his Facebook page:
"From his room. DJ Audacity began producing at the age of late 15. With a passion for music since he was a child he found his calling making YouTube hit mixes that went viral with remixes of "Listen To Your Heart". His popularity has quickly risen gaining over 23 million views on YouTube in just a few months."
For this remix he took songs that had no obvious connection and made something new. He used the chorus from this country song
And mixed it with Haillie's Song by Eminem which is about his daughter.
And the lyrics of Bedrock by Lil Wayne and Gudda Gudda
This is a good example of a pro-sumer creation because he is just a teenager, mixing music at home using songs that have already been made. Using digital technology he is able to create something new then publish and advertise it on sites like YouTube and Facebook where he has received millions of views
http://www.youtube.com/user/RealDJAudacity
http://www.facebook.com/OfficialDJAudacity?sk=info
Changing News.
The way we get news has changed completely due to the internet, stories are now discovered and spread faster than ever due to the interaction of the viewer. Through sites like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and many more people are able to find out about recent stories and pass them instantly which in some cases makes it quicker than watching the evening news. For example the recent death of Whitney Houston was passed on instantly from the moment the news broke through the use of retweeting and reblogging information spreading the information to viewers all across the world.
Also the use of the hash tag on Twitter allows most popular topic to be picked up which who on the Trend bar at the side of everybody's Twitter dashboard. For very popular topics like celebrity news the top trending tweets are the same in every country.
 |
| Tumblr post |
 |
| Tweet retweeted 100000+ times |
Monday 6 February 2012
Digital Technology Turns Media Consumers into Media Producers.
"The making of the new and the rearranging of the old" - Bentley
"Digital techonlogy turns media consumers into media producers"
In your own experience how has your creativity developed using digital technology to complete your coursework productions?
To some extent digital technology goes turn media consumers into media producers because it enable us to consume current media products for example watching music videos on YouTube which spurs creativity and further develops ideas for production turning us into media producers.
In my A2 coursework I have used digital technology as a consumer and a producer because I have used the internet; band websites, YouTube and Google, to take in information about the pop rock band genre that my products were based on. From what I found and learnt I took ideas forward and turned them into a product (music video, digipak and poster) Through Abode Photoshop and Premiere Elements I was able to develop my creativity and turn it from an idea into a reality. This allowed me to experiment with ideas and from the experience I gained though research & planning I was able to judge how effective and successful the outcome was. This allowed me to produce a more creative product. For example when producing my digipak and poster I developed the designs and layout based on aspects of current products. During my research and planning I was inspired by Parachute's album artwork for Losing Sleep I then tried to produce a similar layering style for my own digipak using photography of city and country. I used digital technology to develop this in Photoshop however it was not as successful as the original. I then developed my ideas further by taking certain aspects ideas from different sources that I had found during research & planning and combining them.
"Digital techonlogy turns media consumers into media producers"
In your own experience how has your creativity developed using digital technology to complete your coursework productions?
To some extent digital technology goes turn media consumers into media producers because it enable us to consume current media products for example watching music videos on YouTube which spurs creativity and further develops ideas for production turning us into media producers.
In my A2 coursework I have used digital technology as a consumer and a producer because I have used the internet; band websites, YouTube and Google, to take in information about the pop rock band genre that my products were based on. From what I found and learnt I took ideas forward and turned them into a product (music video, digipak and poster) Through Abode Photoshop and Premiere Elements I was able to develop my creativity and turn it from an idea into a reality. This allowed me to experiment with ideas and from the experience I gained though research & planning I was able to judge how effective and successful the outcome was. This allowed me to produce a more creative product. For example when producing my digipak and poster I developed the designs and layout based on aspects of current products. During my research and planning I was inspired by Parachute's album artwork for Losing Sleep I then tried to produce a similar layering style for my own digipak using photography of city and country. I used digital technology to develop this in Photoshop however it was not as successful as the original. I then developed my ideas further by taking certain aspects ideas from different sources that I had found during research & planning and combining them.
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