Roland Barthes is one of the leading theorists in studying semiotics, the study of the signs. In this context, a sign is something that conveys meaning. One of Barthes main themes was the importance of stopping confusion between culture and nature or the naturalisation of social phenomena. Another important theme he studied was the significance of being careful with how we use words and symbols.
Barthes commonly expresses his work by using a lot of words to explain a few. He gives a detailed analysis of single images, passages and short texts to look into how they work. His work was also known to be in a constant systemisation. He would draw up something similar to a blue print of the areas he’s studying and show how the different parts link together.
In Barthes work he commonly uses the Saussurean analysis; the difference between signifier and signified and how important it is. The signified sometimes makes an appearance outside language and social construction whereas he signifier does not. The relationship between them is arbitrary and there are numerous ways a signified could be shown in different objects divided up and or language.
Barthe is an anti-essentialist and is strongly opposed to the view that there is anything contained in a particular signifier that makes it correspond to a signified. He is best known for showing the social structure of language by daily experiences.
Barthe does not fully apply Saussure’s theory and he replaces the term ‘arbitrary’ with motivated due to the relationship between the two only being arbitrary from a language point of view. Barthes believed signs are mediated by language and he normally reads non-linguistic signs through linguistic signs.
Norman Quentin Cook or alternatively known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, record producer and DJ. He massively helped popularise the big beat genre in the 90s. He was brought up in Redhill, Surrey and he then went on to live in Brighton where he studied English, Politics and Sociology. This is also when he started to DJ. Originally, he started his career with " Caravan Of Love" in 1985. However, he left the group 3 years later and topped the charts as part of a number of dance acts. Previously he has won the MTV Music Awards and two Brit Awards. Not only this but he also placed in the Guinness Book Of Records for achieving the most UK Top 40 hits under different names.
Ya Mama
The very first scene you see in the video is a Red Neck Hill Billy, painting an ornament of a bird, holding a post card of a beach and watching Tom&Jerry. this automatically gives the audience a very unserious, almost jokey sense, not unlike how Fatboy Slim is. The rednecks are going against the stereotypes people give them, you wouldn't expect them to be painting a bird ornament, they would be more likely to be drinking, smoking and fixing old cars. This is like Fatboy Slim because unlike most artists he is very relaxed and abnormal, sees all his videos as fun rather then making serious videos like many other artists. This promotes Fatboy Slim because it shows his uniqueness which is desirable because people get bored of seeing the same sort of things all the time so to have a different type of music, video and artist in general it makes it much more interesting.
The video is a cyclical story narrative, it is about Hill Billy's who have a tape delivered and when it is heard people break out into uncontrollable dancing. They thought they could make money from this and decided to go to the market to get people to pay and listen to the tape advertising it with a sign that says "push the tempo" very scruffily written on a piece of cardboard. A black gangsta then is seen to come and take the tape from them and put it in a juke box. This causes havoc across the whole market because everyone breaks out in dancing, wrecking stalls and even a car is seen driving into them. Throughout the video there is a very unserious atmosphere and it could almost be seen as a joke, for example the spelling of police station is 'Polis Stazion' mocking the correct spelling.
Social Realism- A genre of film that focuses on topical issues within modern society which is represented by different ideologies. Common themes include money, drugs and sex in modern contemporary social realism films.
Postmodernism- Rejects any idea that any media product or text is of any greater value than another. Judgements of value are down to taste not the actual quality of the media.
Intertextuality- The process of creating references to any kind of media text via another text via another media text.
Narrative- The media term for story telling.
Diegesis- The term used to name the story presented on screen as opposed to the story in real time that the screen narrative is about. Diegesis can contain elements such as characters, events and things within the main or primary narrative.
Ideology- A world view, system of values, attitudes and beliefs which an individual or group of people deem to be true or important. They are shared by a culture about how a society should function.
Massive Attack is an English Trip-Hop band that formed in Bristol in 1988. Trip-Hop is a 'downtempo' version of Hip-Hop. it was called this because it is like a slowed down version of Hip-Hop. The band consists of 3 members; Robert "3D" Del Naja, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, and Andy "mushroom" Vowles. Originally, the three met as members of "the wild bunch" which was one of the earliest and most successful sound systems in the UK at at the time. They were renowned for their wide range of musical styles, from punk to reggae to R&B, the groups parties quickly became unmissable events for the Bristol club crowd and at the peak of their popularity they drew crowds so enormous the local live scene essentially ground to a halt. Massive attack released 13 alums and 29 singles. The first album 'Blue Lines' contained the single 'Unfinished Sympathy"
With Massive Attack becoming famous in the midst of the Gulf War their manager, Cameron McVey, suggested it would be a good idea to change their name to 'Massive" rather thn "Massive Attack" because he believed it was too controversial and insensitive because of what was happening at the time. Not only this but he believed they would get little to no air time due to their name. Because of this change pretty much all of the copies of 'Unfinished Sympathy' are printed with only 'Massive' on them and about 25% of the initial UK printing of 'Blue Lines' have just 'Massive' printed on them. The bands manager, Cameron McVey and his wife provided crucial financial support and assistance to the early career of Massive Attack. They even payed the band regular wages through their Cherry Bear Organisation.
Blue Lines
In 1991 Massive Attack released their debut album Blue Lines. within the album there was a single called Unfinished Sympathy. It very quickly reached the charts and their manager, Cameron McVey, helped them to record Blue Lines and it was released through Virgin Records. The album including numerous vocalists including Horace Andy and Shara Nelson.
Unfinished Sympathy
Numerous people helped create the song including the 3 band members, the vocalist Shara Nelson and the co producer of the band Jonny Dollar. It was the second song to be produced on the album and it was released on the 11th of February 1991. After its release it quickly became number one in the Dutch Top 40 and became a Top 20 hit in numerous countries including the UK and Switzerland.
The song itself incorporates a variety of different musical elements including vocal and percussion samples, drum programming and string orchestration. The video was directed by Ballie Walsh, who has also done other massive attack videos including "Be Thankful For What You've Got" and "Safe From Harm". The video accompanying the song was a continuous long shot of the songs vocalist, Shara Nelson, walking through West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. It begins as a shot on a street of a gang and then swaps over to Shara walking down the street. 3D and Daddy G both feature in the background of the video. Many of the people in the background of the video weren't actors they were just extras. The very first shot you see was a real gang that lived in Los Angeles and may of the others were people who didn't care enough to move out of the shot.
Within the first 10 seconds of the video we are presented with gang culture, throughout the rest of the video we then see an appearance of a paraplegic man on a skateboard, a native American man in their traditional dress and a homeless women with a shopping trolley. The noticeable stereotypical characters seen in the background are only shown in a medium shot due to the main focus being on Shana walking through the street. Soon after the shot of gang culture we are presented with a pan over to a small child mimicking shooting someone with a toy gun. This shot alone is a very powerful one because it is a symbolic representation of children growing up in LA and how they are exposed to gang culture at such a young age.
The director of the music video has chosen to incorporate the hidden message through mise-en-scene. Props like the silver balls or the police cars are very effecting alongside the lighting used which presents what a normal day in LA is like. The video is completely raw footage and with the shot constantly being on Shana Nelson with the background slightly out of focus it adds to the suggestion of normality and the idea of individuality and importance. it is clear the director has deliberately incorporated the different types of people in the background to make the audience notice them.
Throughout the song it has constant periods where there is no vocals and there is just the beat. This is blended with Shana's steady walking with the slow pan of the camera circling and it works exceedingly well.
How have representations been constructed in the music video 'ill manners' by Plan B?
In Mach 2011 the rapper Plan B released an album called "Ill Manors" to go alongside the film which was then released in 2012 portraying the lives of different characters living in council flats in Forest gate, London. The film was directed and written by Ben Drew; also known as Plan B. Ill manors is a hip hop protest song of which it follows 8 main characters and is a multi-character based story. The film shows one perspective of their lives which would not be shown normally due to the media having such a negative view on the youth of London council estates. It shows how they fight for survival and how they gain respect where they’ve grown up.
In the music video for "Ill Manors" different forms are used to engage the audience in the song and this therefore, makes them want to watch the film. Drew used specific shots like a long shot for example which was effective and enabled the audience to see the background and notice the setting the characters are in. The very first shots that are shown is establishing shots of London looking from the council estates and in the background you can vaguely see the tourist hub of London. Plan B effectively used mine en scene to highlight the rich area of London and make the front, worse part of London seem darker and less desirable. In one of them you can see Drew looking down into the council estate areas. The area is more shrouded with sunlight of which contrasts the dark, run down estate.
The background scenes involve a lot of violence and typical "gang" behaviour and this draws in the teenage demographic. There is lots of fast pace editing and this emphasises the violence which appeals to the audience. Another camera angle used is point of view. This is used to make the audience feel as if the violence is aimed at them. It also could be used to show the anger the council estate kids have for society for portraying them in such ways, breaking the windows of protection we have up against them, isolating ourselves from them. The kids are portrayed as cruel and rebellious through these different camera angles and the effective use of mise-en-scene which really emphasises the feelings of the council estate kids and how fed up they are. Other elements of mine-en-scene such as setting are used to construct beliefs. The first shots we see are rows of council houses and because they look quite run down and not as nice as the tourist ridden parts we he form negative mindsets towards the people who live there. The negative views are also formed by the clothing the characters are wearing; all black tracksuits with their faces covered. We automatically assume they are suspicious due to them hiding their identity.
Establishing shot of London
The representations of the music video and its lyrics portrays a dominant ideology in terms of peoples views on council estate kids. Ben Drew was suspended from school in year 10 and got moved to a pupil referral unit. He had no respect for authority and felt ignored by society along with hundreds of other kids in the same position as him. The only people they would listen to was rappers and this causes some issues due to the lyrics of many rap songs romanticising street life like gangs and drug deals. Drew believed he could "father"the unfortunate kids who grew up believing they could amount to nothing. Drew believes that the media has demonised the youth and that anything to do with kids from council estates have a negative view. Even the word chav has now got negative connotations due to the media and Drew believes that it now stands for "council housed and violent" rather then its original meaning which was just another word for a child. Plan B's lyrics challenge these interpretations and tell people that not everyone who lives on a council estate is an evil criminal that is heartless and brainless. In his lyrics he refers to the city as a 'concrete jungle.' the connotations linked with jungle are dense and overgrown. The word 'overgrown' gives a sense that the estate has been left to rot and die along with the people who live in it, as if they never existed.
Point of View Shot
The music video included scenes from the 2011 London riots. Although the London riots started because of the police shooting Mark Duggan, who was under suspicion of starting an attack due to him carrying a firearm. It had massive repercussions and triggered numerous riots across different parts of London and even outside of London. Many people saw it as a chance to prove a point to people by burning buildings and cars. There was also looting of shops and robberies of innocent people. Drew said that "The point being made in my song 'Ill Manors' is that society needs to take some responsibility for the cause of these riots." He was not trying to promote violence nor rioting and he was just highlighting them both. He feels society is to blame for the kids feeling like they can amount to nothing and that they don't care about having a criminal record. He believes that there's a lot of pubic prejudice towards the lower classes and they're ridiculed in the press because they dress and talk in a different way to the social "norm". The kids don't care about society because they feel society has made it clear that they don't care about them.
The music video was filmed in Forest Gate, London where Drew grew up. He did this not only because he was on a low budget of £100,000 but to really show the points he was trying to get over in the video and also to give the kids in the community a chance to feel special. The gender most commonly shown in the video is young men of which are presented in a violent way giving them a negative stereotype to young men making the general public weary of them. There is few women shown in the video and Drew did this deliberately to show the dominance of the young males. There is a wide range of different ethnicity's and ages used throughout mainly aged (16-24).
What was the task?
The task we were given was to produce a simple, basic edit using videos and audios provided to us on the editing software premier pro. The footage we were given was videos of a fly board competition, the crowd watching and then the audio "oops upside your head" by DJ Casper. To do this I went through each video that was provided and strategically placed them in order to fit with the music and also used specific video transitions to assist with the videos fitting with the audio.
What did you find easy?
I found that actually importing the videos and putting them together was quite easy and a basic process when I had been shown how to do it by my media teacher and when I watched a tutorial on how to use premier pro correctly. What was more difficult?
The hardest part for me was trying to get the videos and the music to fit together so it was more appealing for the viewers. It was not easy trying to incorporate all the different camera angles we were provided with and trying to fit them all together so they look right. For example, going from a high angle shot to a close up under water.
How did you overcome any challenges?
To overcome challenges I encountered I would either ask my teacher so he could assist me or go back to the tutorials and go back through each step so I can do it correctly. One of the challenges I faced was I didn't note which videos I used in what order so then when it came to adding more videos in it was a longer process because I was trying to figure out which videos I had already used. although this isn't a massive challenge I have faced it did delay the whole process slightly.
What do you think is successful?
I think this task went quite well as it has numerous camera angles entwined into it as well as a variety of different transitions between clips. Not only that, but I think the music fits quite well with each part of the videos and that makes it more interesting and enjoyable for the viewer.
What could be improved?
The video could be improved by using a wider variety of the clips I was provided with as I only used a number of clips which could be seen as quite similar and it might be more enjoyable to watch if there was a wider variety of clips. If I was going to redo this I would take more time into considering which videos I use and where. I would also note which videos I used to save me time when picking videos and I can put more time into editing.
The internet has been a big part of my life for a very long time. From a very young age I've used the internet for a variety of things including gaming, social media, an information source and for school work. Even in primary school most of our homework was on the internet. Not only this but my dad is very modern so I had a very modern upbringing where the internet was incorporated quite a large amount. Now I am extremely reliant on the internet and use it daily without fail whether its for school work or for social media and it is a large part of my life.
Video Games
When I was younger I used to be into gaming a lot more then I am now. I started off having a Nintendo DS, DSi, PSP and a Wii from a very young age which I loved and spent a lot of time on especially my DS/DSi. I have an older sister and we also use to play on her PS2 quite regularly. When I then got a bit older I got an Xbox 360 and a PS3 of which I loved my Xbox a lot and spent a lot of time on it playing games like Call of Duty and GTA. When I was 14 I then got a PS4 however I didnt like it as much as my Xbox so I sold it. I then went away from console gaming for a while and went on to PC gaming playing games like CSGO and again GTA.
Television
I used to watch lots of TV when I was really young including programmes like Teletubbies and dora the explorer. As I grew a little bit older I sort of lost interest in TV and got more into gaming even though from a young age my dad always watched quite a lot of TV. I then hit 12 and got into hollyoaks and I have watched every episode without fail since. That is the only TV programme I really watch now however, I will occasionally watch horse racing and football when Manchester City play.
Film
Even when I was younger I was never really that interested in films in comparison to other things like video games and the internet however, I would watch some films with my family. I was never interested in the Harry Potter films or anything like that when I was young and found them quite boring. Even now I don't really watch films however I do love a good rom-com or a horror film every now and then. My most recent favourite film has to be the new Mamma Mia!
Advertising
Advertising is seen everywhere however, its never had a massive impact on me and if anything they're annoying because they interrupt whatever you are doing if its online like watching a video or trying to play a game you have to stop and watch a completely irrelevant advert. Most of the time I will ignore adverts unless its something that looks interesting however, this is rare.
Radio
The main time I will hear the radio is in the car because at home most of the time we just play music through bluetooth speakers on our phones. But even in the car we use an AUX cable so we can play our own music. Occasionally my dad will put on the radio if we are at home and most of the time we listen to either Heart, Radio 2 and Connect.
Magazines
When I was much younger I used to love magazines! I used to get one every week when my dad would go shopping and I absolutely loved it. I used to love reading all of the stories and the little free gifts you would get inside. Nowadays the only magazine I receive is a British Horse Society one that I got with my membership and I will sometimes read it but if I do it is mainly for discount codes for new stuff for my horse.
Newspapers
I've never been interested in newspapers and they've never really had an effect on my life because none of my family read them either. The only time we would have them in the house was when my grandad lived with us for a while and he used to read them a lot. Most news is on the internet and my dad watches the news on the TV so we've never had the need to have them in the house.
Music Videos
When I was younger I used to watch music videos a lot more then I do now however the main reason for that was because I didnt have Spotify or Apple Music like I do now. When I used to listen to music it'd either be on the music channel on TV or on youtube of which both showed music videos. Now if I do watch a music video its normally because a friend has recommended too. I love the music video/song below because it has such a strong meaning.
![Plan B - ill Manors [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-16-2018/PYgBBf.gif)
