NEA Brief - Music Video - Initial Ideas

 Initial Ideas/Considerations - I am considering to produce my music video based around the Alternative/Indie song Aurora. This is because I can represent the lyrics to strongly resonate and anchor the visuals included in my music video. I intend to base my music video around either a forest or beach mise-en-scene, opening the video with a fade or blur establishing shot to emphasise the setting of my music video lyrical/narrative. I have some ideas for what visuals I may use to connect to the lyrics. For example, I may open the music video with the already mentioned establishing shot and somewhat writing Runaway - by my artist’s name, followed by Domino Recording Company, then cutting away to a young girl walking along the beach, taking a close-up shot of the waves and the girl walking towards the camera. I may then switch to an extreme wide angle with the girl walking towards the centre of the frame, simultaneously while a boy walks towards the centre. I shall then take a close-up shot of the girl’s elation and pure joy when seeing the boy, likewise when he sees the girl. I have also just thought that I might film a tracking shot when the video cuts away to the girl mouthing the lyrics, with the camera moving backwards as the girl walks towards the camera, centrally positioned on the pier. At the end of the video, the girl will reach the end of the pier, with a diagonal line and eyes-level shot, then followed by a close-up shot.

Clear sense of branding across the two elements of cross-media production:

- I have considered the idea of featuring a prevalent or culturally significant prop within the video, which may be placed in the mise-en-scene of close up shots on poster boards or the video may play a short cut of a slow-motion effect over a specific symbol or clothing design. By featuring a character with my brand logo or company name within the music video it would strengthen the sense of brand identity which would be cross-referenced onto the website, in order to meet the requirements of the brief.

Target Audience:

With the clear outlinings detailed in the briefs to target 16-25 year olds of an up-market audience who like to be engaged, I believe that the use of a typical coming-of-age romance narrative may appeal to this cultural capital. Furthermore, I will aim to incorporate themes of social isolation, and reducing the stereotype of a masculine image to subvert the societal norms and expectations. These themes are synonymous with Aurora herself, who is known for producing songs that do not necessarily conform to the mainstream ideas of society, effectively targeting those who may feel subjugated and marginalised by the media.

Potential Intertextuality Ideas:

-La La Land’s famous dancing scene, aiming to try and replicate a similar sunset shot by a bench.

-Period outfit for a dance to pastiche Romeo and Juliet

*Look at brief and make headings on the areas that must be included/

This is the first moodboard I came up with which may potential be of use when considering the themes for my music video. I have included photos which may act as the mise-en-scene in various shots of my video. 

Super-Curricular Documentary: Incorporating Clay Shirky’s theory - Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere

Louis Theroux’s Inside the Manosphere Netflix documentary explores the unnerving nature behind the world’s most elitist, masculine-mindset men, normalising the oppression of women in today’s dynamic society, with notorious influences such as HS TikkyTokky, Justin Waller and ‘Sneako’, with some objectifying their wives, truly believing that one-sided monogamies should be accessible to all men, and men exclusively. Terms such as the ‘red-pill’, ‘anti-feminism’ and ‘alpha-male’ were highly prevalent and topical throughout the documentary, with the latter being men’s insatiable desire to be the ‘ultimate man’, both physically and mentally. Those leading a ‘white-supremacy’ lifestyle are devoted to practicing their own misogynistic culture, willingly and carefully selecting multiple women to spend time with. One of the most concerning elements of the documentary was not just the concept of masculinity being modernised and females being repressed as a social normality, but the influence that these men were generating, being titled as ‘role models’ and being ‘my biggest inspiration’ for a large proportion of the younger male generation. The prospect of these extremist ideologies filtering and perpetuating into our new media is becoming a challenge in society that is progressive faster than tradition. Theroux also considers what may be the contributing factors for men turning towards the ‘red-pill’ and anti-feminist values, finding a common pattern between an abusive childhood and the lacking of a ‘father-figure’ in households. Furthermore, the majority of the male influencers crave the monetisation of their success, yet seem to state that they do not own luxury cars for status, but as a result of their hard-work and efforts. This controversial concept of elitist men wanting to turn their content into dollars, their engagements with women into views, all to reap the financial benefits.

This documentary made me consider what would happen if this view monopolised society. Would we regress backwards to the historical gender inequalities that once corrupted our social values, or would women learn from the past to condemn these ‘toxic masculinity’ behaviours?

This documentary resonates well with Clay Shirky’s End of Audience theory, as the men who are engaging with the live streams and media content enabling a participatory culture. These fans and avid followers of influences such as HS TikkyTokky and Amrou Fudl are able to ‘talk-back’ on his media platforms and easily publish snippets of his content on their own social media pages. This was evident when Harrison Sullivan (HS TikkyTokky) was deliberately trying to aggravate Louis Theroux during a live stream, with many of his fans publishing and then filtering his content to position Theroux with a bad reputation, almost incorporating Strauss’ binary oppositions. These men will gatekeep information from a renowned and critically-acclaimed journalist - Louis Theroux (such as when Fudl’s girlfriend was informed to no longer participate and interact with Theroux in the documentary) in order to protect their status and censor private information from the mass media and target audience, particularly when the documentary will be published onto Netflix, an established, multinational corporation with a wide global reach.

Shelter Advert - Super-Curricular

 The reading of the Dixon Chapter 17 within Stuart Hall’s Reception theory  has enhanced my knowledge and reading skills of Hall’s Reception theory, identifying that the theory is more complex than simply the preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings, but audiences may adopt a misreadings approach when decoding media products, as well as decoding a product based on their situated logics.. I have learnt that there are broader topics and factors which largely influence whether an audience member will adopt the dominant, oppositional or negotiated reading when encoding and encoding the producer’s intended message, learning how media products interweave various iconic signs into their works in order to appear polysemic. Furthermore, the contributor of audiences potentially making misreadings shapes which reading position the audience member will uptake, dependent on the complexity and illegibility of a text.

 I have also learnt that multiple other theorists (including Albert Bandura and David Gauntlett) might challenge Stuart Hall, such as George Gerbner’s cultivation theory, where he believes that even the strongest of audience members may experience attitudinal change as a result of media exposure. Linking closely to Neale’s Genre theory, there is the concept of genre-driven mediation within the Reception theory, where producers will recycle themes and characters in order to drive the narrative and to appeal to the audiences. This audience collects information  and forms their own perspective if they constantly view the same charcsters perpetuated via the media, they may form a political bias, learning to potentially dominant, oppositional or negotiated readings. 

Hall also believes that an invisible set of rules help to govern and dictate our behaviours, based upon what we consume from media industries. He believes that political opinions and biases build the foundations of political ideologies of the public, leading to the re-inforcement of legitimacy through parliament and its systems by reporting. Additionally, the audience may create ‘situated logics’, actively and selectively filtering information portrayed to them through newspapers by selecting articles orientated around their knowledge and past experiences within society.

Lil Nas X Music Video Website Recreation

               

                 

Super-Curricular: Judith Butler - Gender Performativity Notes

‘Assault on gender = assault on democracy’

Open-ended question about what a gender means/the distinction between genders.

Sex=category assigned to infants that has importance in medical and legal worlds.

Gender=mix of cultural norms, historical formations, family influences, desires and wishes.

1960s social movements largely affected theses definitions at the time and being in the Jewish community.

Many people (including those of the LGBT community) have been subject to genocidal politics - different forms of oppression.

Queer conversations were arising - in a complicated discourse with feminism. Butler was part of a movement at the time that was reconsidering the meaning and definition of gender during the 1960s.

Trans issues hadn’t surfaced in contemporary society.

Feminism definition approach = ‘Women are fundamentally mothers and that maternity is the essence of feminine’.

Feminism definition approach = Sexual difference (this meaning presumptuously heterosexual).

‘The sex you are assigned with at birth and the gender that you are taught to be should not determine how you live your life’. - Judith Butler

Simone de Beauvoir (philosopher) - wrote a novel called ‘Second Sex’, detailing that someone is not ‘born’ a woman, but ‘becomes’ one. The body is not a fact, showing the potential for a difference between being assigned a gender and being born as one.

Gayle Rubin: Anthropology and Psychoanalysis - ‘Family is a structure whose task it was to reproduce gender’.

-Invited the idea that gender could be reproduced and cultivated.

Psychoanalysis - ‘There is repression going into becoming a man and becoming a woman. We feel we have to conform of being, doing and loving.

People did not perceive gender as something that you can make and re-make, people treated gender as a social reality.

We no longer speak about sex, desire and wants in the same way as we used to before people were coming out as gay and queer.

Gender - The changing of reality.

Concerned about finding effective ways to countering the attack on gender.

People who struggle to understand what trans-gender people define themselves have their own self-definition destabilised.

The fact that we can change reality and make it appear unjust means that there is an instability to people who want to solely understand that gender is a fixed term.

There is a lot in the world that is telling us not to be free with our bodies - we struggle to claim this freedom.

In a democracy, we’re assume that we acclaim to the democratic principles we are provided with (quality, freedom, justice). 

But what do these terms actually mean.

Sexuality and racial movements mean that we actually have to challenge people’s already existing, preconceived ideas about these topics - the democratic struggle consists of occupying the difficulties in trying to achieve the societal, common goal of justice.

Goodwin and Dyer - Music Video Theories

Andrew Goodwin's theory is incorporated into Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers License’ music video, encompassing his idea of the singer representing a commodity and showing the contrast between the female being present and absent in the video at the same time. For example, the coming-of-age video uses a following shot in the tracking, to show how she is intangible, yet visible at the same time. The extreme wide angle and establishing shot refers to how she is in far proximity yet when the camera cuts to a close up, the performer almost seems reachable and accessible to her teenage audience. Furthermore, the video also makes Olivia seem ordinary and extraordinary simultaneously, representing values of expressionism through her dramatic body language and low-key lighting. She also embodies an ordinary appearance throughout the wide angles above her car frequently throughout the video and driving past her lover's house each day, highlighting the realistic longing desire to reunite with her soulmate. This is shown through the ellipsis, with multiple cuts and shots featured to show the agonising pain of time (an ellipsis), yet her devoted, loving attitude still remains with her as this time progresses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmDBbnmKpqQ

Richard Dyer's theorised four key concepts which allow music videos to work effectively, including:

-Stars as Texts - This is where stars are constructed to represent certain symbols or images across media texts, in order to amplify the meaning of the song and to reflect the ideologies of the artist through their performance in the music video. This is shown through Kate Bush's music video of Running Up that Hill, where she represents a dance with her partner through an otherworldly atmosphere.

-Stars as Commodities - Furthermore, Dyer identifies these music videos as a performance, meticulously designed to make money for the artist. Ultimately, music videos are a product within the music industry, with each purchase made for the performer results in an increased sales revenue and generated publicity. Within Running Up that Hill, particularly in 2022 when the iconic song was featured in a scene from the Netflix original TV show, Stranger Things. Bush received almost £2 million in royalty payments from her song rights being used in the show, whilst also hitting number 1 in the UK for the most streamed song, and  reaching the top 5 in America, demonstrating the significant impact music videos can have on other media products.

-Stars as ideological figures - Dyer states that music videos aim to reflect veteran ideologies and values that the artist associates themself with, whilst highlighting that the person and the performer are two separate concepts. The music video may be associated year ideologies such as liberalism, expressionism, focusing in themes of desire and passion which are re-informed through the lyrics of the song. This helps to amplify the meaning of the performance, using an A-listing celebrity as a methods of value transference to encourage her intended audience to accept her preferred meaning and remain resilient in overcoming life’s difficulties.

-Audience and Stars - Dyer explains in his Star theory that audiences can relate to and identify themselves with stars, appearing relatable and similar to create a sense of belonging with their audience. In Running Up that Hill, the importanc right the lyrics ‘I’d make a deal with God, and I’d get him to swap our places’ shows that many members of the audience will feel a certain point of solitude and low self-esteem in their lives. This displays verisimilitude with the audience as this realistic want to be removed from the earth is a trouble that some viewers will relate to in their lifetime, emphasising social issues that need addressing by society in order to help those in times of depression and extinguish their feeling of helplessness. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp43OdtAAkM

Music Videos Infogram/Uploads

 

 

Music Videos Infogram/Poster - Canva - January 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbD_kBJc_gI

‘Let’s Dance’ by David Bowie aims to reflect the zeitgeist and preferred ideology that Bowie is trying to convey to his audience, challenging social injustice and exploiting marginalised, misrepresented demographics. This video highlights the challenges posed by society for ethnic minorities, using a variety of close up, wide angle and low angle shots in the opening minute of the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Bc3pLyij0

‘Happier’ by Marshmello is a narrative heavy music video, focusing on the importance of pets to bring us through times of strength and sadness in life. The video is a cyclical structure with fast cuts and jump shots to emphasise the inevitable short amount of time we have with our animals, showing how abruptly life can change when you are least expecting it. The use of the jump cuts further exaggerate the limited capacity of time we have with our pets, encompassing the polysemic meaning of the video: To appreciate the importance of loving figures in your life, to recognise that there will be brighter opportunities even in the heavy times of solitude as well as reluctantly having to let go of the things we cherish the most - its agonising journey of self-doubt and internalised pain reserved within only yourself, feeling unable to talk to anyone about the most heart-breaking of experiences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSDgHBxUbVQ

‘Photograph’ by Ed Sheeran particularly resonates with me, due to the emotional nature portrayed in the fast cuts of childhood memories, showing how much easier life appeared during our childhood development stages. Furthermore, the video makes parallelisms between Sheeran’s primary stages, which then contrasts to himself when he is a renowned, successful singer. Its realism portrays our struggle to let go of our childhood, encompassing a nostalgic, reminiscent feeling when we wish we could remain a child forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmDBbnmKpqQ

‘Drivers License’ by Olivia Rodrigo manages to represent the final acceptance of dealing with the tribulations of adolescence: the difficulties of break-ups, social awkwardness and releasing your innocent, childhood self. The video starts with a wide shot, but then zooms in to capture a close-up shot of Olivia herself performing the lyrical aspect of her music, highlighting her isolation of driving alone, even with the celebratory milestone of passing her driving test last week.