Ha this is like last year all over again. The joy of studying such an awesome game. I don't care how nerdy it sounds San Andreas is just awesome. Now if you had told me like 3 years ago I would be studying San Andreas and voyeuristic 50 cent videos I doubt I would have believed you.
Ah yes a fresh new video for you to pour your sizzling opinions on. I doubt I'm the only person in the class to prefer mainstream music videos to the award winning directors we've been studying. No offence to Michel Gondry or Malcom Glazer or the rest of them, they have made some very inspiring videos. However for me music videos need a high energy to them, without that being a live band playing. Not saying the Aphex Twin didn't have a beat to it, only I prefer something I could watch with my sister in the background. Something for people with simple needs and very simple audience pleasures.
Although it was quite worrying earlier my 10 year old sister explaining this song is about how a girl wants sex but that’s more a subject for Cat and Lauren's CRS.
Ah yes a fresh new video for you to pour your sizzling opinions on. I doubt I'm the only person in the class to prefer mainstream music videos to the award winning directors we've been studying. No offence to Michel Gondry or Malcom Glazer or the rest of them, they have made some very inspiring videos. However for me music videos need a high energy to them, without that being a live band playing. Not saying the Aphex Twin didn't have a beat to it, only I prefer something I could watch with my sister in the background. Something for people with simple needs and very simple audience pleasures.
Although it was quite worrying earlier my 10 year old sister explaining this song is about how a girl wants sex but that’s more a subject for Cat and Lauren's CRS.
50 Cent - Ayo Technology
Firstly this video is set in London, which is a city I love buildings wise, so the shot where they pan down from a bridge to them in cars, even if it’s all CGI, stirs my coffee very well. Also the quick opening helicopter shots of the London eye and the house of parliament in the dark are also very pleasurable.
Ultimately these wonderful shots are pointless, along with the shot of 50 cent at the start holding a sniper rifle for no reason. These are quite obviously used to promote the wealth (rich well respected trademarks of London and the flashy expensive sports cars), power (being able to pleasure women with the touch of a button) and gangster prowess (the sniper rifle) of the only and only 50 cent.
On that little sheet we were given, Goodwin waffles about:
There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of females, but also in terms of looking (screens, binoculars, cameras etc.)
Now Goodwin must have been theorising about this video as it contains lots of these features. At one point (1:24) Justin is even looking through X-ray binoculars into a women’s hotel room for goodness sake!
There is also a lot of inter-textuality in the video, whether it’s meant or not. Such as 50 cent is dressed like he's out of Reservoir dogs without the glasses, Timberland has the glowing glove moving screen board thing (which if I'm very much mistaken is "borrowed" from Minority Report), and the dancer at 2:38 is wearing exactly what Fergie did in her video for "London Bridge" minus the union jack underwear.
Now the lyrics are quite self explanatory, so much so as I said my sister understands them. The video is much dictated on technology and how these three maestros use them to pleasure the endless women that surround them. However I think I heard the original lyrics were about pornography rather then technology. So the slight change works well for creating a MTV showable video.
All in all it is a very stylistic video of Joseph Kahn's works, and if you've seen the "Britney Spears - Toxic". Very loose narrative that relates to the songs title and nothing more, random shots of loose women, technology/spy themes and random shots of the leading artists dancing to a plain coloured background.
Now for some questions, answers with opinions would be appreciated much better than just yes or no replies...
1) Is the opening shots of London too short or do you prefer the quick introduction of location, thus the video concentrating on the song more?
2) This opening shot is book ended by another similar CGI effect, did you enjoy this shot or would you have preferred they ended the video with a conclusion of narrative? I.e. what happened to the girl Justin was playing around with behind a door.
3) Were the lyrics reflected well in the video, or would you have preferred the video to be more narratively dominated?
4) General opinions on costume? Was it looking smart for the point of looking "cool" or do you prefer the artists to be wearing an outfit suited to their genre?
5) Is the fast paced editing too much or does it reflect the energy and upbeat feeling of the song more?
Saying all I've said I still like this video, although it's not Kahn's best works. Watch this space...
P.S After some more messing around we have our second film full of tester shots. This time instead of lip syncing we tried messing around with walking at normal pace with people in the background moving in fast motion. Anyways this was a productive use of a double lesson ... honest:
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