Star Analysis - Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne is a star icon who is looked up to by many young adults, teenagers and woman. She is currently in her 20's, meaning that her target/mainstream audience of young adults and teenagers can relate to her, and Avril Lavigne can relate to them. There are many other things that Avril Lavigne does to create her own star image and style, and to gain her mass audience, such as her music videos.

Avril Lavigne's music is within the pop rock and pop punk genre. Pop is probably one of or the most popular genre out there, following with R'n'B. The rock and punk element suits to the other majority of the young generation. Many of her videos have a narrative to make her videos more interesting, emotional and relatable to an audience. Most of her songs try to send messages to the audience about being yourself, to follow your dreams no matter what anyone says and to have believe in yourself. Her song (which unfortunatley does not have a video) 'Keep Holding On' is an example of a song that persuades the audience to not give up, and 'What the Hell' inspires teenagers to be themself and to have fun. On the other hand, she also touches alot on the subject of love and depressing things. Videos such as 'When You're Gone' (where her or someone relatable misses their partner) and 'My Happy Ending' (where a relationship has come to a close) are examples of this. She has been known as the 'Punk Rock Princess' with her image and songs.

 

What the Hell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQmEd_UeeIk

When You're Gone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G3_kG5FFfQ

My Happy Ending: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8QYxmpuyxg

 

Her image is different from a typical star icon with the sexy and glamarous figure. She challenges this image with her own 'tomboy' or 'emo' style with attitude to compliment her rock and punk music. Alot of teenagers adore this look to be different and look youthful, edgy and to stand out. Avril's fashion is very colourful as well, which lncludes colour streaks in her hair and tatoos to suit the pop genre in her music. They look up to Avril for her fashion icon, and try to create looks similar to hers. Avril has even released her own fashion collection which included a 'back to school' edition. This is catering toward her target audience of teenagers to wear her style even at school. She has also come into the gothic side of fashion too which is very similar to her current star image. Despite saying this, she has also appeared in magazines with little and tight clothing to reveal her edgyside, and appeal her image to older woman. Because of the people who look up to her, they compare themselves with her image and try to be like her. This is a drastic change from her style she is known for, but has said that 'she has grown up and is not a little girl anymore.' However, she still appears to be wearing the star image she is famous for, and only occasionally wears other things you would associate with Beyonce or Rihanna. Her music videos 'Sk8er Boi' and 'Smile' show her star image. In 'Alice (Underground),' this shows her more gothic side when she is wearing a long dark dress.

Sk8er Boi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIy3n2b7V9k

Smile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KagvExF-ijc

Alice (Underground): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI4m-l2yRZA

 

As well her attitude in fashion, she is know for her tomboyish attitude in music videos. In examples such as 'Sk8er Boi' and 'Complicated,' she hangs around with a group of guys playing basketball or doing graffiti. She also gets up to trouble with her friends to show she dosen't care what people think of her. In her older videos like the ones above, she plays in a band performance. In more recent videos like 'Smile,' she is playing her guitar on her own.

 

Complicated:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NPBIwQyPWE

 

Avril Lavigne's 'Alice (Underground)' was also made for the film by Disney (directed by Tim Burton) 'Alice in Wonderland.' She did this to advertise her songs for those who hasn't heard them before to get a bigger fan group. She has also been in many other films and television such as 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' and 'American Pie.' which is also a popular film among her target audience.

Auteur Theory - Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze was born in 1969. He is an American director, actor, screenwriter and producer. He has done many commercials, music videos, television and films. In his music videos, he is best known for his work with Bjork, the Beastie Boys and Weezer. He has directed 27 music videos. He has done many different genres of music videos, and is well known for creating alternative and illustrative videos, using techniques that are similar to ones used in film. He has used a mixture of live action, puppetry and animation in his videos. 

This video is a simple and relaxing video about the band Weezer, who are bonding and playing with the animals. It looks like it was filmed in a hot country like Africa, but was actually shot just outside Los Angeles.   The video is not edited directly to the beat of the music, which is known to be common in Jonze's style. The handheld camera movement and the fact that the band do not look or sing directly in the camera makes the video look more like a home video, making the narrative believable to the audience. Just like his use of film techniques, he uses an establishing shot at the beginning of the landscape and a variety of camera shots such as close-ups and long shots. He also uses slow motion to emphasis moments in the video such as when they are happily running up a hill. This makes the video more interesting, and the animals create a heart-warming feeling.



This video that is also directed by Spike Jonze has many differences from the Weezer one above. This is a song called 'Flashing Lights; which is by Kanye West, featuring Dwele. Firstly, there is a smaller variety of camera shots and there is not much editing in this video. There is only 3 shots that use smooth dolly movement and zooms, and the slow motion effect helps to fit with the slow beat of the music. However, Weezer's 'Island in the Sun' also uses slow motion at times to emphasis moments and fit with a similar pace of beat.
This is a very sinister video compared to Weezer's. It is about a woman who goes to an isolated location to murder a man who is presumably her ex-lover, as Kanya West sings about a woman he knows well. 'Island in the Sun' is also set in an deserted area, but the fact that this is set a night adds a dark and gloomy atmosphere, compared to the relaxing atmosphere of the sunshine in the Weezer video. We know something bad is going to happen.

Abstract Music Video - 'Brick by Boring Brick' by Paramore

The genre of the music is alternative rock music, by a band called Paramore. In 2009, the album 'Brand New Eyes' by Paramore was released, with many new songs including 'Brick by Boring Brick.' Unlike most of their videos about relationships between lovers and friends, this song has a background on raising an issue on Monarch Programming, or otherwise known as mind control. Monarch Programming is when children are made to disconnect from the reality of the cruel things in life (such as abuse and electroshock therapy) to their own alternative one where they can be in a happier place. The child becomes unaware of their true state in the real world as they are lost in their own fantasy. Fairytale images are used against them to strengthen their illusions.
Monarch Programming has for years been symbolised by a butterfly, because of the way butterfly's can genetically pass on information of a place to their offspring. Scientists were intrigued and looked into humans. They found some children could 'dissociate' from reality, and be made to believe something else, just like offspring of butterflies are made to believe a place is okay through parents.

In this video, a young girl is trying to escape reality by going to her own fantasy world. The lyric 'too far for us to find' and 'forgotten the taste and smell of a world that she's left behind' suggest that the girl is so deep down in her own made up fairytale, that she has completely forgotten about the real world. It has been said that the girl is a younger version of the main singer, Hayley Williams, who is also in the video: they wear similar costumes and both have long blond hair. The video uses the symbolism of butterflies to raise awareness of Monarch programming: the young girl wears one on her back to show she is under mind control.

As the young girl enters the realm of fantasy, the door violently shuts behind her to show that she has been forced into this world. The world looks magical with the glowing and vibrant scenery with hundreds of colourful flowers, massive mushrooms and an enchanted castle. There are also fantasy characters with the  wolf and grandma from red riding hood, a princess, a knight and a dwarf. These emphasis the fairytale realm, and they are also disguises for the people who have put her under Monarch Programming as good people to save her, when really they are abusing her in the real world and making her dissocaite from it.

As the girl gets to the castle, there are many floating mirrors reflecting the girl's image, as well as multiple depictions of the girl to suggest that her mind is fragmented and broken. The reason for the title 'brick by boring brick' is the idea that this girl has slowly built up this world, and has ended up building an illusion as powerful as a castle. The castle represents her mind, with the mirrors acting as illusions. The girl see's her reflection as an independent and happy girl. as she brushes her hair in the mirror. As the girl looks around her mind (the castle), she discovers that in reality, her life is tragic. The sky turns dark and lightning and thunder strike above the castle. Scary puppets come out of the mirrors, as well as a burglar and axe man who scare the girl away from the truth of the real world.
Hayley Williams sings 'So get your shovel and we'll dig a deep hole to bury the castle.' She wants to bury her own experiences of mind control from her childhood, or to more disturbingly, show the outcome/consequence for most who go through Monarch Programming. This could explain the ending when the child falls into the dug up grave and they start to bury her. This is referencing Alice in Wonderland as Alice also falls into a hole to a world of wonder, but wakes up to find it was a dream. In this case, Monarch Programming is similar to a dream as it is not reality: the reason for burying her suggests that the girl will only escape her fairytale illusion in death. You can also see a white rabbit in the grave in the music video, which supports the Alice in Wonderland theme.








The target audience for this video is for Paramore's main stream audience of young adults and teenagers. It is describing the consequences of trying to escape reality, and that we have to be strong and mature about life to be happy.

http://vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusiness/paramores-brick-by-boring-brick-a-song-about-mind-control/

Make-Up Ideas

For the main female artist, she will be wearing make-up. 

1. The eyes will have mascara, eye-liner and eye-shadow. They should all be dark colours to connote her sadness, such as black or a very dark green. 

2. Foundation will help to make the face appear brighter for a healthy glow.

3. Depending on the outfits, the red lipstick will attract the audience's attention to the artist's face cause of it's vibrancy. However, the light lip gloss could create an innocent and gentle look to her face to show she is a good soul. 

On this picture just above is the make-up effects for the boyfriend, who gets beaten up by a gang of boys. We will need:

1. Black and dark purple eyeshadow - to create bruises an black eyes

2. Fake blood - to create scratches or cuts to the face 

Hairspray may help to hold the make-up in place for a longer period of time. Caution should be considered when using this on the face. 

Use of Close-ups in Music Videos

Although we are planning to incorporate a narrative within our music video, it will be just a part as we want to focus the video onto the artists singing as well as acting. We want to include lots of different angles of close-ups and create a series of short cuts to engage the audience and keep their attention. This is shown in Adele's music video 'Rolling in the Deep'.



Also in this video there are a lot of close-ups of glasses which breaks up the video and appears more interesting towards the audience. This could be a possible idea in our own video when the artist is setting the table as it creates a different look in the video.

In Adele's music video 'Rolling in the Deep' Adele has the main focus being that it is her song. We as the audience are focused onto her by the use of close-ups. However, there is also a range of long shots and mid shots. We must use a range of close-ups, mid-shots and long shots with a range of different angles. However we must think of something to help break this to keep the audience engage although the main focus will be on the artist.

Possible Costume Ideas for Main Artist

I drew 5 different costume designs that I thought would be appropriate for our music video on Rita's Ora's song 'Love and War.' I included fashion that was inspired from the military, and created some casual looks as Rita Ora appears to be wearing casual in a lot her music videos such. I included some pictures from the internet to make it clear what sort of clothing I drew. 

1). This outfit has a leather jacket, a plain crop top and dark shorts with a loose belt around the hip. It includes dark military style boots with thick socks. 

2). The top is baggy with a flag printed on it to link with the war theme, preferably the UK flag, but doesn't have to be. With that, there is baggy trousers with black high heels.

3). This is a white dip hem sleeveless dress that is short, but trails at the back. It could be worn with military boots and socks. I thought this could be good for when the song says 'white flag.' The dress could flow like a flag. 

4) The choice of this was an alternative to number 3 if we wanted a longer and more elegant look compared to number 3. It is a long, floaty white dress with no sleeves. 

5). Lastly, this is a short, sleeveless skater dress with a belt around the waist. This can be worn with tights and converses to create a youthful and casual look. This could be worn with a baggy and loose jacket. 

Accessories

Hair

I thought the hair should fall naturally to suit the casual look of the costumes. However, we could put the hair up in a high ponytail as woman who are in the army have to tightly put all there hair up. It also has a serious tone to it, of which the song expresses about the strictness of not fighting with her boyfriend any more. 

Colours

The colours for the costumes will be dark and depressing to represent the artists feelings and upset. However, white can also be used to represent the lyric 'white flag,' and because it connotes innocence and elegance of the artist. It works well to contrast with the dark colours to make them stand out. Also, we could include some army pattern's into the costume to relate to the song title 'Love and War.' 

Storyboard for our Music Video

Our storyboard for our music video on the narrative. Definitions are below illustrations.