Our Thriller Film; Anonymous!

Anonymous

Here it FINALLY is guys! I know it's been a long wait, but its here, its ready, and it's completely awesome ;) enjoy.

Controversial Music Video - Rihanna - S&M

Rihanna's music video is highly controversial and has been banned from many countries, due to it's "steamy" content. The video starts with Rihanna being moved and dragged into place by other men, and she has no way of getting out. You see her kicking her legs, but she is placed up against a way. This can be seen as somewhat vulnerable as others can see her and she has no way of getting down. However, at this point, she is wearing quite a long, non-revelling dress, she is wrapped up in clear latex. 

The scene is somewhat a "press conference" where Rihanna is supposedly speaking to the press. You then see the press strapped to a chair with things across their mouth. The audience see's one person in the press write down on some paper "SLUT", which again add's to it's controversy. The scene soon changes and you see Rihanna "in control" which could also suggest things to the audience. She has now taken over and has got hold of the press and 'tied' them up. Rhianna is now wearing bondage gear and now more relieving than ever. The whips can be seen as hugely controversial as this will be causing pain to others. However, it goes will with the song S&M and see dresses up appropriately to fit the narrative and lyrics of the song. You then cross over to Rihanna tied up, showing that she is not in control anymore and she may be the subject of whips etc.

The audience then see's Rihanna eating and peeling a banana which is representative something suggestive. Along with the images and actions on the screen, the lyrics are just as controversial. She sings "Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it". Also, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me". As well as the actual music video, the lyrics add to the reason why the music video is so controversial. I feel this music video is definitely controversial, and their are a number of suggestive actions that Rihanna is interpreting. This may be the reason why it has been banned in a number of countries. However, this has raised a number of opinions which have made this video so controversial and well known for such particular reason.
Take a look for yourself..

M.I.A - Born Free

Controversial Music Video
There are many things featured in this video to class it as controversial.
Many people have heard of the saying 'gingers have no soul' but this is just pushing it.

First of all the lyrics don't seem to link into the narrative at all.  Following a team of American SWAT officers 'hearding' up all the redheads they could find and then brutally murdering them in a desserted wasteland. All this is is a 9 minute video about one form of genocide.

The narrrative at some points over powers the music and the attention as drawn towards the story and the horrific scenes of tourcher and masacre. 6minutes50seconds - Take this as an example, a gun is held up to a CHILDS head and he is shot through the temple...it is not implied it is visible to the camera. Any shocking events involving children are always emotive and is a good way to evoke emotion however the killing of an innocent child is wrong on all levels. In the narrative this forces the other 'gingers' to do as they are told because they are horrified and scared. 

In my opinion it is a clever devise to promote the artist 'M.I.A'. Anything controversial will lure an audience in to see why it has been branded as 'controversial' or in some cases 'banned'. The more interest the more chance the public will engage with the music/artist. In this instance the music isn't really a big part in the video it is more a soundtrack to a bad tasted storyline.

Sinéad O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U

This music video was mainly shot in Paris, and was directed by John Maybury. The music video was released on the 8th January 1990 in the UK, and the 11th of January 1990 in the US. This music video by Sinead O'Connor is seen to be iconic, due to the fact that the song became a worldwide hit, topping charts in O'Connor's native Ireland, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It also became a top-five single in France and a top-20 in Denmark. The single was certified platinum in Austria and the United Kingdom, and gold in Germany and Sweden. Also, because the video is so simple, it forces the listener to listen carefully at the lyrics. This often increased the popularity because the lyrics were so meaningful and something that the artist herself could relate too.

It’s one of the simplest music-video concepts ever: a closeup of  Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor, sporting a crew cut and a black turtleneck, singing directly to the camera. This image is not the stereotypical "feminine" look, wearing a pink blouse. This somewhat contradicts codes and conventions of certain music videos. It’s also the most heartbreaking. The music video begins with her walking through a part of Paris called Parc de Saint-Cloud, but the rest of the music video is made up of close up's on the singer herself. The director of this music video would have decided this on purpose, as it fits into the lyrics of the song. The whole song is to do with a break up that she has gone through, and therefore she may feel isolated from everyone else. The close up shots enable to viewers to look squarely into her eyes and feel her raw emotion. The first line of the song counts down how long she has been alone, and this is where the first close up begins.Her face is very pale, which could connote that she is pure, and she is not the one that has caused the break up. This means that the viewers could therefore be on her side, just after the first line. When we see some statues that are located in France, the editing techniques enable Sinead O' Connor to still be in the background. This could mean that the statues have something to do with the relationship and she is still part of the relationship, as well as the shot. Due to the fact that she is alone in this shot, this could reflect her feelings, which means that she now feels lonely after the break up. This is simple, but an effective way to portray this to the audience. O'Connor's crying toward the end wasn't accidental: she stated on that it was caused by the lyric "All the flowers that you planted, Mother in the back yard All died when you went away," because she had a very complex relationship with her late mother, who used to abuse her in childhood. The shot where we can see her crying shows the emotion that she is going through, and again the audience tend to "be on her side". I feel that the use of the close ups, and showing her pale white face reflects the emotions that she is going through. This was obviously as successful idea for a music video because of the following reasons:


Critical Reception that it received:


In 2004, Rolling Stone placed Sinead O'Connor single at number 162 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, which contains only two songs of the 1990s ranked higher.

In a 2006 poll for a Channel 5 program "Britains Favourite Break-up Songs", Sinead O'Connors version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" was voted fifth.

VH1 Classic listed Sinead O'Connors version as the second greatest classic love song.

In 2002, VH1 ranked the song the 18th greatest one-hit wonder.

In 2008, VH1 ranked the song the number 1 on "Final Countdown - Top 50 Heartbreakers"

When we get back..

When we're back at school next week, we will upload our thriller opening and our evaluation to show our progression through our time so far in media.

We as a group were very happy with our end product and we feel everything went to plan and the opening and evaluation went well!

FINISHED

Finally, we have finished!

Thriller opening = complete
Evaluation = done
Media exam = finished

Now.. for a relax. and bring on an intro to A2 Media!

So far...

Today, we have drafted out our final evaluation. I have been away for a while and It has been difficult, because of rehearsals etc. to get any work done on my behalf.

However, the draft is written out, we just need to finish off the script. As far as the video is concerned, the voiceover is written. All that is left is to record the actual audio and place it into the video.

For this, I will be using an audio recording software called ‘Mixcraft’.

This is a screen shot of what the interface looks like. I already have a basic understanding but I am going to have a lesson on using it fully from someone who has a large amount of experience.



Next lesson we will decide the location(s) for filming and then film the evaluation.