Research Task 3 Summer Three Gaga & Jackson Task

A2 Advanced production research Tasks: Lady Gaga & Michael Jackson

C. Winward, the real / lady gaga? media magazine Feb, 2018

Watch the music video for Lady Gaga’s track Million Reasons taken from the Joanne album ( Lady Gaga - Million Reasons (Official Music Video)) then read the article ‘The Real / Lady Gaga’ and answer the following questions:

1.     What does the term ‘liberal society’ mean? 

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based o the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed and equality before the law.

2.     Why did Gaga possibly choose to ‘humanize’ her representation in the ‘Million Reasons’ music video? 

Lady Gaga is an artist who in her videos has a heavy star image however in this video we see that star image broken down which makes her seem more relatable to the audience. In the video we see almost a BTS of her job which takes away the idealistic view we all see in many music videos.

3.     How is Gaga’s representation in ‘Million Reasons’ different from her previous video for ‘Perfect Illusions’?  

In the music video for 'Perfect Illusion' we see Gaga's star character being showcased heavily. Gaga is seen as being over the top and extravagant in this video however in Million Reasons she is stripped of the star character and is showing herself in a different light. In Perfect Illusion we see Gaga already in makeup and hair and costume whereas in Million Reasons we see Gaga before, during and after being in the glam chair.

4.     What does Winward suggest are the main enigma codes in the music video ‘Million Reasons’? 

Winward says that the codes and conventions in the music video suggest ideas of emotional suffering and dealing with these emotions to cope with loss and self discovery.

5.     What intertextual references are evident in this music video? 

The intertextual references in this music video are to the 1950s and specifically Maralyn Monroe through the use of Black and white. This reference could be done as a acknowledgement to those who came before her.

6.     Why does Winward argue that the gift presented to Gaga in the video ‘is an obvious symbolic code’? 

The gist in the music video is a clear symbolic code because as an audience we assume this gift is from a man which Winward explains is due to societies heteroromanticism, however this is subverted because the video shows Gaga showing the importance of family and that her sister empowers her.

7.     Read the section ‘The Loneliness of Mega-Stardom’, what mains themes does Winward identify in the video? 

Winward points out that the no makeup, mirror shots are used to humanize her and also detach her from her star persona that is creative in the makeup chair. He also points out that there are multiple shots when she is hugging her friends which suggests that to cope with her emotions she needs the support from others. Anf from this we see a theme of female empowerment.

8.     How does Gaga challenge traditional hegemonic gender roles in the video ‘Million Reasons’? 

Gaga is seen wearing a country western costume in the video which typicall a masculine outfit but this is juxtaposed witht the more feminine colour pallete. This further enforces that Gaga is someone who is not afraid to break sociatal constructs.

9.     In terms of economic context, why does Winward argue that artists now need to be ‘more controversial’ in their videos? 

Winward says that artists will create xcontroversial videos as this will bring attention to them and get more people to watch them which therfore produces more profit.

10.     What do platforms such as Vevo encourage the viewer to do? 

Platforms such as Vevo encourage audiences to watch more of the artists content as it is available in the same place

C. pollard, bille jean: birth of an icon magazine Dec, 2017

Watch the music video for Michael Jackson’s track Billie Jean taken from the Thriller album (Michael Jackson - Billie Jean (Official Video)) then read the article ‘Billie Jean: Birth of an Icon’ and answer the following questions:

1.     Why was Jackson’s wish to have backing dancers in the Billie Jean video denied by his record company? 

Jackson's wish to have backing dancers was denied because the production company didnt want to pay any more money on the music video.

2.     Why did MTV refuse to play the video and how did Jackson react to their decision? 

MTV refused to play his video has they believe it didn't fit their middle America audience. Jackson's response was to remove all his content off the air and go public to tell the world that MTV would let music be played that was made by a person of colour.

3.     Billie Jean was considered ‘ground breaking’. Why? 

Billie Jean was ground breaking because it was the first song to be played in heavy rotation by a person of colour.

4.     What genre characteristics are evident on Billie Jean? 

The music video contains charateristics of pop genre through the lip-synching, dancing, a narrative and high fashion costumes.

5.     How did Jackson draw on his own experiences to build a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals? 

Jackson drew on his own experiences of people claiming he is the father of their child to create a narrative. That links the lyrics and the visuals of the music video.

6.     What audio motifs are evident in the video and what visuals do they accompany? 

The editing of the video usually cuts on beat to the song, Aswell as the choreography hitting the same beats, claps or snaps. We also see correlation between the lyrics and visuals. For example the lyrics 'He has my eyes' the editing then cuts around Jackson's eyes to focus on them.

7.     How did Billie Jean assist in the construction of Michael Jackson as ‘a star’? 

Billie jean helped to create Jackson as a star not only through the close up shots but also his dance moves in the video.

8.     Why does Pollard argue that Billie Jean is a voyeuristic music video (see the ‘notion of looking’ sections)? 

The notion of looking is shown through the use of the detective character. This is also enforced when a polaroid of Jackson is taken but he is not seen and therefore he is seen as mystical.

9.     Billie Jean, along with the video for ‘Beat It’ were described by Steve Barron as ‘Midas-touch’ narratives. What evidence does Pollard supply to support Barron’s point? 

Evidence that supports Barron's point are things such as everything Jackson touches turns to gold, and in Beat It Jackson pops himself between two rival gang ringleaders.

10.   What ‘identity crisis’ is evident in the 18 minute Martin Scorsese music video for ‘Bad’? 

In the music video for Bad we see Jackson leaving his Ivy League school friends to go back to the mean streets of his youth which highlights the ongoing identity crisis Jackson is going through