PLANNING: OUR TREATMENT OF MILEY CYRUS 'WRECKING BALL'

We have decided to do our music video on Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus. Although this is a typical love/break up song about a girl and boy, we have decided to take an innovative approach to it. We are still following the concept of a girl and boy love story, but instead, turning it into a narrative that alternates between a reality and  fantasy world. The fantasy world is going to follow the narrative framework of Lewis Carrol's fantasy Alice in Wonderland. Lyrics such as "I fell under your spell", "high up in the sky" and "running for my life" help represent the  fairy-tale  dream world the girl falls into, as Alice falls into the rabbit hole and emerges into a parallel universe. Nevertheless, during the chorus,  lyrics such as "never been hit so hard before" and "wrecking ball"  bring the girl back into reality. The reality represents her true feelings about the break up, whilst the fantasy world is used as an escape from all these feelings.

Intertextuality is a common feature of music videos and we are confident that audiences will relate easily to our approach, all the more so because recent audiences will recall Jonny Depp's recent film Alice which was a big box office success.

Our music video starts off in 'reality' as the couple are placed opposite each other at a dining room table. The beat of the song corresponds to the editing as the camera alternates between close ups of the girl and boy. The mood is very subdued and their faces show neutral expressions. The lyric " I feel under your spell" is the transition into the 'fantasy' world. The fantasy world is represented as being dream-like. We are using fairy lights and dim lighting to create this dreamy, romantic and peaceful place. We are using the location of a forest to represent this 'escape' from reality. In the fantasy world, the girl wears an Alice and Wonderland costume to represent this 'fairytale' she dreams of. We are using the concept of the Mad Hatter's tea party to create this quirky, unrealistic, and dreamy state the girl is in.

The chorus is used as a comparison of the dream-like world, as we return to reality. This lovely, quirky tea party that is portrayed in the previous verse, is suddenly turned upside down, as Alice throws the cutlery and china across the room. This represents her angry and upset feelings about the break up. To visually represent the change from the 'dream world' to 'reality' we are going to have the girl singer rip her Alice and Wonderland costume off. Underneath the costume a more skimpier, edgier outfit is worn. Images of fire is used to metaphorically represent the turmoil she feels inside about the break up.

At this point we acknowledge the more predictable treatment seen in Miley Cyrus's performances: one that has a sexual explicitness that can border on the pornographic. In her article on MTV, Sherri Kathleen Cole explores the pornography of the music video industry from a feminist point of view: Andrea Dworkin has said that the first victim in pornography is the woman in the photograph. The article Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema by Laura Mulvey, a feminist film theorist, focusses on how films place women in relation to 'the controlling male gaze', presenting them as objects of desire and as 'spectacle' for men to look at. Although we arn't planning to take such a pornographic approach to our music video, but we are acknowledging the sexuality of the performer at the point where she rips her Alice and Wonderland costume off to reveal a skimpier, edgier outfit.


Our artist performance is inspired by the Xperia advert. We are going to have extreme close-ups  of our performer singing. Drums are going to be played in accordance with the beat. Our idea is to perform in a white room to capture the colour of the powder paint that will be thrown on the drums and across the room.


Sources: SHERI KATHLEEN COLE The Pornographic Ideology of the Music Industry
Enculturation , Vol. 2, No. 2, Spring 1999 Enculturation 

PLANNING: PERMISSION

We contacted RCA Record Label Company through Facebook for permission to use Miley Cyrus's song, Wrecking Ball.

RESEARCH: INDUSTRY ( RECORD COMPANY, ARTIST)

Record Company- RCA records 

• RCA is a record label company of Sony Music Entertainment and one of the second-oldest recording company in all of US history
• RCA president, Tom Corson says- 

'clearly after MTV's Video Music Awards, her fans and people were looking for the next Miley      event'

'We feel like the video, Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus, was over-performed, and we were very pleased with the pickup. The video is obviously high-quality, and the song is beautiful and wonderful. It's one of the songs that convinced us to sign her' 

• RCA Records music label is home to genres like Pop, Rock, Hip-Hop, R&B and Country
• It has signed international superstars including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Dido, Kasabian, Kodaline, Kelly Clarkson and recently, Miley Cyrus 
• RCA was known, until 2011, to have signed contestants from American Idol. Even though they've stopped this  now, they still continue to achieve great success with idol alumni such as Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry and Adam Lambert
• RCA have produced several notable Broadway cast albums. Among these are original Broadway recordings such as Fiddler on the Roof and Paint Your Wagon. 
• RCA Record company have their own Facebook page in which they update fans with the latest news and information about the stars

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Artist- Miley Cyrus 

• Miley Cyrus is both an American actress and recording pop artist. Her musical career started when she signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2007, where she released Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley cyrus. This was made  the soundtrack of the series, and had sold over 300 million copies in the United States alone. 
• She was described as having 'upbeat pop songs, with a splash of country' by the Star Scoop
• Many other successful tracks followed this including 7 Things and I Though I Lost You, which earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Her lead single The Climb, starred in  Hannah Montana: The Movie, introduced her to country and adult contemporary markets 
• Cyrus quickly developed an adult image and mainstream pop sound when she released her third album Can't Be Tamed.  This video featured prominent dance elements which was promoted through sexually-themed performances. 
• Her fourth album, Bangerz, in 2013, was released through RCA Records. Its singles 'We Can't Stop' and 'Wrecking Ball' were promoted with very provocative music videos. Despite the controversy on her provocative performance at the MTV music Awards, and her provocative dancing in her new hit singles, she still continues to be the most successful artist to originate from Disney. 
• She is ranked number thirteen on 2010 celebrity 100. In 2011, she was in the Guinness World Records for 'Most Charted Teenager'. At the age of 18, she has had 9 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including her recent number one song 'Wrecking Ball' 

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RESEARCH: DIRECTORS LABEL

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RESEARCH:TRENDS

Over the summer and within the past few months there have been tracks that have completely taken over the charts. These songs range from mainstream pop songs to modern house music.

Best Song Ever  One Direction - One direction are an English-Irish pop boy band based in London.   Their Hit single, Best Song Ever, reached number 2 on the charts with their music video breaking the VEO record for the most views during its first 24 hours online. The song is upbeat, fast tempo, and buoyant.

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Wake Me Up Avici - is a song by Swedish DJ and music producer Avicii. It features uncredited vocals from Aloe Blacc, an American soul singer. The song reached number one in much of Europe and achieved critical and commercial success internationally. The song has been described as a 'summer anthem' by Variance Magazine.


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Heart Attack Demi Lovato- American recording artist Demi Lovato's song, Heart Attack, sold over 220,000 units in its first week. Heart Attack, currently holds the third-highest opening-week sales figure of 2013 in the USA and is placed behind songs such as Justin Timberlake's 'Suit & Tie' and Katy Perry's 'Roar'. Heart Attack reached international airplay, and didn't take long to become one of the top 20 hits in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

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Get Lucky Daft Punk- is a song by French house music duro Daft Punk and features Pharrell Williams. 'Get Lucky' is a disco song, and has reached top ten in the music charts of over 32 countries, sellin
g more than 7.3 million copies.

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Other hit singles that have appeared this summer are- 

We cant stop- Miley Cyrus

Come & Get it - Selena Gomez

I Need Your Love - Ellie Goulding's melody on Calvin Harris

Radioactive - Imagine Dragons

I Love It- Icona Pop Feat. Charil XCX

Holy Grail - Jay-Z feat Justin Timberlake

RESEARCH: MORAL PANICS

BBFC reviews its policy on music and factual videos in a Guardian article. On the 3rd of September, 2012, The Department of Culture, Media and Sport closed a three-month consultation that observers believed would end a loophole. This means that DVD's with a variety of titles such as The Bitch of Buchenwald and Britains' Bloodiest Serial Killers can claim exemption and release from being given these age guidences' by the British Board of FIlm Classification



Currently, as things stand, most documentaries, music videos and sports can claim exemption from classification. David Austin states that 'The great majority of exempt video works are fine. They are not going to harm anyone, but there are a significant number of titles that are potentially harmful to children'



The BBFC has estimated that around 200 videos might be caught by a change in the law. Austin showed the Guardian a variety of examples that would have been classified, but claimed exemption. All of these examples range in seriousness, however, the most shocking, was a documentary  about the American heavy metal band Slipknot. Austin argued that the documentary was so bad he confiscated it away from his 10 year old son, and would give it back when he's older. The documentary shows the word Slipknot carved into a fans arm and another who had done the same to her belly.


Gorgoroth, a Norwegian black metal band, made a music video which was rated X in Germany but is still unrated in the UK. This music video shows a topless women being crucified with blood running down her breasts. Music video, Come Undone, by Robbie Williams, too, shows some serious images of a variety of drug takings. It contains scenes of Williams cavorting in bed with two naked women.


Austin stated that  'Given concerns about knife crime in this country, that really is how to kill someone. If that came in for classification, we would not classify it- we would cut that'

The BBFC, along with other regulatory bodies, is ' calling for exceptions to the exemptions that would cover material that is violent, sexual, discriminatory, has repeated strong language of containes imitable behaviour such as drug use'

"it is completely common sense' says Austin. "we're talking about videos quite legally being sold on the high street, often to children. Some companied do submit them on a voluntary basis, which makes it even more confusing for parents who see on the shelf 18 and 15 ratings and see ones with an E symbol"

Although it is good that artists are pushing boundaries of music nowadays, i think that there should be a limit to how far artists go.  It is important that there is a certain degree of freedom in todays music industry, however, i  think that there should be a limit to this freedom. I believe there should be laws and regulations to control music and its videos as they are starting to become bad influences on younger audiences.

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RESEARCH: STARDOM

Dyer has written extensively about the role of stars in film, music and TV. Stardom has remained a key factor to the success of commercial production, distribution and exhibition of films and music.



One of the many reasons that pop performers are described as being pop stars is because they are so quickly promoted to this status by their management. This status can be achieved by judicious written stories, having a famous boyfriend/girlfriend, attending a variety of premieres and parties, and lastly, featuring in HEAT magazine. During this process, it isn't hard to forget about the artists music ability in the light of their love affairs and excentric outfits. However, a true pop star has a lasting remembrance, and has 'brand awareness' amongst a wider market over a period of time.



Despite them being ' real people', experiencing real feelings and emotions, pop stars are commonly constructed as artificial images. It helps if their image contains a particular USP ( unique selling point)- they can be copied and/or parodied by it. Their representation may be metonymic, such as Madonna's conical bra or Britney's belly or Justin Bieber's bands. The construction of a pop star and their image is consistent over a period of time, and isn't dependent on the creative input of others 

 For Dyer, 

' A star is an image not a real person that is constructed ( as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (eg advertising, magazines etc as well as films) '

The music industry manufacture stars for a particular purpose: to make money out of audiences. Record companies shape, nurture and manufacture their star. They are fabricated by record companies to shape them and turn them into something that is specific to what audiences want to see. Pop stars are clearly the product of their record company, and at the end of all of it, they must be sold. For Dyer, 

' Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meaning' 

Stars also represent a sense of shared cultural values and attitudes as they promote a certain ideology. 'Star quality' is achieved through audiences interests in these values. It is through conveying beliefs of ideas and opinions outside music that performers help create their star persona. For example, if a star begins a new trend, their fans will copy their hairstyles and clothing. Stardom, and star worship in general is a cultural value. 

A star begins as a real human, possessing different gender, ethnic and race characteristics. They exist against a particular historic background. The star is then constructed and transformed into something which fits in with the modern day trends. Stars arn't read as being entirely fictional, and instead they are recognised as being part of their own time and culture- the product of a particular generation. Audiences depend on stars and star trend as an idea of what they are supposed to look and behave like ( e.g for women to look think and beautiful). We compare ourselves to other stars. 

Rihanna is a good example of star trend. Rihanna is modelled on what trends are being set, with her persona's character and personality being based on what is the 'right now' trends. She was constructed by her record label company, Def Jam Roc Nation, with different fashions and hair-do's. We can see how over time, she has changed and adapted to fit in with the modern, up-to-date

trends.

Sources:

Richard Dyer — The Stars (BFI Education 1979)

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