Music video analysis - Lana Del Ray

Born to die

The music video of Lana Del Ray’s Born to Die, depicts the failure of the “American Dream”. It begins with a couple holding each other by the American flag, suggesting they are a couple trying to make the American dream a reality, however as they are holding each other tightly, could imply that they are struggling to achieve the dream.

In the opening of the video, there is an establishing master of a church where Lana is sitting on a throne guarded by two tigers. Throughout the film there are subliminal images of a Christian atmosphere in the video. In this part, the surrounding is like a European Catholic Church, symbolising she is worthy of a superior heaven. However this links with the man in the video, as he appears like a rebellious character with his tattoos and extreme hairstyle and clothing. It hinders that if she stays with him, he could drag her down from heaven.

Throughout the video, there are hinders to what type of person the man in the video is. His car is a second hand 80s sports car which is featured in films such as Dukes of Hazard, where most of the characters are violent. Also there is one part where he has his hand round Lana’s neck, suggesting his intentions for her, which are true because at the end of the video, it results in him killing her in a car accident, we think.

At the end when the man and Lana eventually die, they are both separated to the realms that belong. Lana goes to Heaven, which implies that she is pure and good. It also shows that the man has ruined her life because his evilness which has sent him to Hell has ended it so early in her life. There is lots of imagery displayed in the scene where the man is holding Lana’s dead body. The dead body implies he is a sinful person as murder is against the Ten Commandments. The tattoos on his body and dark panda eyes make him look very evil and dark, much like a grim reaper. And finally, the fire in the background is suggesting that he is currently in hell. All of these factors make his presence seem very evil and deathly, showing that Lana has been taken away from him because he is evil. Also the hell implies that he is living ‘hell on Earth’ as he has just killed his lover, so he must carry his torment and frustration on the fact that he murdered the person he most cared about.

Storyboard of a music video, game trailer, documentary

Codes and conventions of contemporary music videos

There are essentially 3 types of conventional music videos:

1. Performance based I.e: Live band performance

• JLS
• Arctic monkeys
• Kasabian
• Take that
• Beyonce
• U2

2. Narrative based where a story line is evident

• Beyonce

3. Abstract/ artistic music videos creative artostic music videos

• Radiohead
• Fatboy slim
• The verve

Most videos are however a combination of both (1) performance and (2) narrative in a traditional sense.

Liven performance based are traditionally a bad idea and thw synchrnisation becomes a real problem

The best way to make a music video tips

• Either make it completely abstract/ artistic with no performances
• If you are going to have a live peformance have your artist mime the song in at least 5 well lit locations.
• Make sure they mime the song from start to finish
• Take 5 separate scene sequences and assemble them on the 5 different timelines on Adobe Premiere
• Cut the video to the beat of the music as this should give you at least a rough cut of a performance in 5 different locations

Codes and Conventions of a Documentary

The opening

• The opening needs to capture the audiences' attention as quickly as possibe
• The central question of the documentary has to be posed at the beginning in order to communicate to the audience what the programme is about
• E.g: Why is Britain the teenage pregnancy capital in Europe? Will we survive a double dip recession? Are University fees exclding a genration from higher edcation?
• Some quick snippets of interviews with good responses can also draw an audience in
• Incidenta music or even a soundtrack, relavant song should usually accompany the opening sequence during some visual montage. Te music must not however override the voice over.
• Titles are all important; you need to announce the title of the documentary in some dramatic form. The name f the show should burst onto the screen

Actuality: Filming real events as they happen are a convention of real documentary, but could rove difficult with certain things like trying to film a hurricane, or explosion in Iraq and thus you may need archive footage

Fly on the wall
This is when you film real people as they do real things focsing on their lves. In terms of documentary you may be able to film things like people having a genuine conversation about issues relevant to your topic, a live sporting event, following an individual around as they do a job etc

Voice over
Most docmentaries have a voice over, a narration of what the programme is about, giving key information and intrducing the topic of debate

Grapics
Documentaries often uuse graphics with written text. Maps, drawing, still photographs can be incorporated into the open sequence through jpeg files. Graphics shuld also appear as a banner at the bottom of the screen when showing who your interviewee is and what they do for a living. e.g: Andrew Mitch, conservative MP

Interviews
An expert interview with someone has ample knowledge of your topic and can give a clear insight ito isses is vitally important. This could be a real expert, parents, students etc

Vox Pops
This is more of a random interview with ordinary people on the street woth a handheld camera, with a microhone popping up asking what they think about your topic

Talking head
A shot of someone talking directly to the camera as a presenter of the docmentary could also be used. This is called 'talking head'. The talking head is the authority figure and presents the facts

Music
Music is critical for the opening sequence but the sound of the song or music shoutld not dominate and override the sound of the voice over.You need to balance sound and imaes very carfully and fade them in appropriately.

Task 2 - Research into existing products - Louis Theroux Behind Bars

Begins with establishing master shot in framing, which is unusual as this is usually used in films. Second shot shows Louis and a prisoner talking about his 521 year sentence. This makes the viewer want to carry on watching the film as they want to find out what the prisoner did to get that sentence. Title of the BBC indicates that the documentary is likely to be good as most BBC documentaries are well produced. Music as Louis enters quite soft and light, distinguishing his type of character from the criminals. Quick cuts showing a montage of the criminals and how the guards run the prison.  He asks questions to people which are simple such as “why am I wearing a bullet proof vest?” This is because he is acting through the audience, so he must address as many questions as he can in order to inform the audience. Handheld camera shows realism as the criminal is talking to Louis about his conviction, indicating it is a very serious crime. Fade to black is another technique used by films which has been used in the documentary to show a passage of time.

The separation of races shows that it rough in the prison and that racism and discrimination does happen. Organisations in the prison suggest that there is a lot of conspiracy. Also, the prisoners judge one another by looking signs of weakness and target weaker prisoners, and restrict their freedom and treat them like slaves.

Louis Theroux asks simple questions to people who he is interviewing in order to extract as much detail as he can, in order to give as much infromation as he can to the audience.

Task 2 - Research into existing products - A very British Gangster

What is a documentary film?
[From Wikipedia]
A documentary is a nonfictional motion picture, and is inteded to document aspects of reality.
Cinema Verite
This means "truthful cinema" which is a style of documentary combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinemaic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking povacative stance towards its topics.

There are subtle yet important differences among these terms. Direct Cinema is largely concerned with the recording of events in which the subject and audience become unaware of the camera's presence. Operating within what Bill Nichols, an American historian and theoretician of documentary film, calls the "observational mode" direct cinema is essentially what is now called a fly on the wall documentary. Many therefore see a paradox created by drawing attention away from the reality of the camera and simultaneously declaring the discovery of a cinematic truth.

1. What TV Channel is it broadcasted on?


2. What is the Title of the documentary?


3. What type of documentary is it?

• Historical: The Rise and Fall of the Egyptian Empire
• Biographical: The Life of Sir Stanley Matthews
• Investigative: The truth behind the disspearance of Madeline MCann
• Artistic: The Work of Van Gogh
• Wildlife: The anatomy of the Blue Whale
• Political: The New Labour years
• Drama documentaries: Margeret Thatcher
• Realiyu TV: The Kardishians?
• Celebrity: David Beckham's new tatoo
• Scripted Reality: TOWIE

4. What type of style of documentary is it? Think in terms of:

• Narrative structure: (Linear/Non-linear)
• Editing (fast, slow, dissolves, fades, superimposing etc)
• Voice-overs (narration, register, tone, mode, of address)
• Archive footage (type, style, place, time-period)
• Graphics (pie charts,images)
• Text: (captions, subtitles, banners)

5. What is the subject matter/ content of the documentary?


6. What are the messages and meanings behind the documentary - What is it trying to communicate to the audience?


Research into existing products:

A Very British Gangster - Directed by Donal MacIntyre

Establishing master shot showing the city of Manchester, making it look more like an official film, not a documentary. Music changes to an urban style such as garage. Stereotypically music heard from people in streets. Switches to a shot showing an underpass showing that gangsters are the underbelly of society. Slow motion gives them a sense of superiority and power. CCTV footage indicates the police's point of view suggesting he is under surveillance be being a fugitive. Cutaway to hands showing his gold rings and bracelets. This exemplifies his high status by indicating he is rich and has money. Rock music makes him appear abit more of an old fashioned style of gangster. Also shows that he is a rebellious character aslo, which shows how is not afraid to break the law. Cutaway to news report shows a sense of realism and how serious the situation is with the events in the film. The use of the handheld camera makes it feel more realistic which surprises the audience as events which have occured in the film, a sane person would not have thought they were real. The POV shot allows the viewer to see through Dominic's eyes and see how he views the rough streets of Manchester. They try make Dominic seem more human by trying to make the audience sympathetic. This is shown by things such as him discussing about his bad childhood because, when the audience about he a very rough and violating chldhood, they sympathise for him and don't judge him in the same way. Crane shot used, which is unusual for a dcmentary as it makes it more like a film, which can dramatisise the events.

Goes by Manchester tradition to support local boxing clubs. Talks about how he had a rough childhood where Dominic would be involved with much violence, like he was growing up in a ghetto. This is shown when bad events which he talks about happen to him, such as when he was raped at 13. However Dominic is confident to do this as he is very open about the subject and is not hessitent when talking about his past traumas. This because he knows he is highly superior, so no one would judge or try to insult him as people don't want to get on his bad side.