John McLaughlin's blog

Apply Goodwin’s theory to Riptide using screenshots to support your analysis. The first step of this process is to analyse the music structure understanding the chorus and verses.  Then the second step (main voice of the song), the voice of the artist would be very unique compared to others and will give the person a form of identification that can be related to the star image or singer.  The third step would be the story of an artist which he is trying to tell in his song. It can establish him as a storyteller. And the music video can aid this by showing us the video through the vocals of t he song.  The majority of this music video is made up with links between the lyrics and the visuals. This is an example of the link as the lyrics are ‘come unstuck’ while the visuals are a  mid shot  of a girl coming ‘unstuck’ from being tied to a tree. Another example is from the lyrics of ‘running down to the riptide’ while the visuals show a  mid shot  of some...

What are the key elements of surrealism? The exploration of the dream and unconsciousness as a valid form of reality, inspired by Sigmund Freud's writings. ·           A willingness to depict images of perverse sexuality, scatology, decay and violence. ·           The desire to push against the boundaries of socially acceptable behaviors and traditions in order to discover pure thought and the artist's true nature. ·           The incorporation of chance and spontaneity. ·           The influence of revolutionary 19th century poets, such as Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Isidore Ducasse. ·           Emphasis on the mysterious, marvelous, mythological and irrational in an effort to make art ambiguous and strange. ·     ...

Is this music video postmodern? Postmodern media rejects the idea that any media product or text is of any greater value than another. All judgements of value are merely taste.  Anything can be art, anything can deserve to reach an audience, and culture ‘eats itself’ as there is no longer anything new to produce or distribute.  The distinction between media and reality has collapsed, and we now live in a ‘reality’ defined by images and representations – a state of simulacrum. Images refer to each other and represent each other as reality rather than some ‘pure’ reality that exists before the image represents it – this is the state of hyper-reality.  All ideas of ‘the truth’ are just competing claims – or discourses and what we believe to be the truth at any point is merely the ‘winning’ discourse.  Postmodernism is also said to reflect modern society's feelings of alienation , insecurity and uncertainties concerning identity, history, progress and truth, and...

Code and Conventions of Indie folk: Every music genre has various codes and conventions which are followed when creating music videos. With regards to camerawork there is a frequent use of long shots, which show the artist playing an instrument; establishing shots and shots of scenery (for example country side etc.) and close-ups of the artists. In terms of miss-enscene, lighting is varied - ambient lighting or fairy lights/lanterns are also used - the lighting choices usually match the mood of the song; the choice of clothing is usually fairly mainstream/normal, this varies from pop music as artists usually dress up with this genre. Editing for indie folk music videos is usually described as 'subtle', soft focuses are used often and are predominately used on the artists' face and the location and videos usually end with a fade to black. In terms of general codes and conventions, there may not be a strong link between lyrics and imagery but there is a m...

Essay 2 Beyoncé’s formation is seen as being a major political influential video that brings to light the issue that is the still on-going mistreatment of the black community in America and is a political cry for black women to take pride in them selves and stand tall. Meaning behind the video The Super bowl 2016 during the super bowl halftime Beyoncé was said to have smoothly and effortless “stole” the spotlight away from Coldplay and Bruno Mars. Her performance of her song formation was heavily influenced on the black panther movement of the sixties and was the singers way of contributing to the on-going battle with the black lives matter movement currently going on across America and reaching around the world. It was said that her performance was like a political cry out for all black women to have pride in New Orleans. Quote “Beyoncé marched onto the football field, clad in skin-tight leather and Michael Jackson style gold military gold sashes, with a posse of impeccably chore...