Wednesday, February 18, 2009
video analysis
Yahkeira Readon
February 18, 2009
Blog #3 Video Analysis
Lions, Tigers, and Bears
Jasmine Sullivan’s music video Lions, Tigers, and Bears, is a digital video with dignified equivocal use of cinematography. The video is a direct parallel to Victor Fleming’s film, “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). The yellow brick road, the lion, the tiger, the heart, the brain, and courage are what tie the video to the film. The lyrics to the song correspond magnificently with the majestic use of framing, color balance, and props used throughout the video.
There is a renowned use of framing throughout the video. Canted framing illustrated the unbalance of emotions within the couples. The video opens with a canted frame of Jasmine Sullivan and in the back ground are antique shades of gray. As Jasmine sang “Why do we love love when love seems to hate us” a close-up on the face of the couple in orange demonstrates the emotion hate. The close-up techniques throughout the film make evident the emotion Jasmine sings about. Medium close-ups demonstrate the individuals battling with each other; it is used with the blue couple to show their emotions as Jasmine is singing “Sorry if I sound so filled with blues.” Framing was a very essential tool in the video because it gives direction and insight on where the focus should be at a given point in the video.
Throughout the video a great use of color palettes are displayed. Colors are used within the video as symbols to define the different states of emotions. The video opens with antique color patterns in shades of grey. Jasmine begins singing “I’m not scared of Lions and tigers and bears” as a black heart appears behind her. She continues to sing about “being scared of love” with the color of the heart, black which is used to symbolize fear. The color blue used in the video represents the feelings of one couple, sad and depressed. While orange symbolizes the feeling of the second couple, confused. The color purple is used as a representation of rage. The commanding color balance throughout the video really highlights the colors and brings life to the video.
There are many different types of props used throughout this video. The prop on which the color is placed is also very demanding in the video. Contextual, people, and graphical props are used. One contextual prop was the yellow brick road which also parallels the video to “The Wizard of Oz” film. The individuals used in this video were the most important props. There were two couples, the orange couple who emotion was confusion represented the bear, and the purple couple who emotion was rage represented the bear. The props used throughout the video were imperative in connecting the lyrics to the video, as well as the video to the film.
The lyrics to the song that are being sung correspond prominently to the actions of the characters, the color palette used throughout, and the props. The framing, color palette, and the props used throughout the video paralleled the video to the lyrics and the film. Numerous framing techniques were used to show the emotion of the props. The acute use of the color palette defines the different states of emotion that Jasmine sings and the props display. The props, the colors, and the framing used in the video were very successful in connecting the video and the lyrics. “Lions, Tigers, and Bears” was a great digital music video, sung by Jasmine Sullivan and produced by Jive Records.
February 18, 2009
Blog #3 Video Analysis
Lions, Tigers, and Bears
Jasmine Sullivan’s music video Lions, Tigers, and Bears, is a digital video with dignified equivocal use of cinematography. The video is a direct parallel to Victor Fleming’s film, “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). The yellow brick road, the lion, the tiger, the heart, the brain, and courage are what tie the video to the film. The lyrics to the song correspond magnificently with the majestic use of framing, color balance, and props used throughout the video.
There is a renowned use of framing throughout the video. Canted framing illustrated the unbalance of emotions within the couples. The video opens with a canted frame of Jasmine Sullivan and in the back ground are antique shades of gray. As Jasmine sang “Why do we love love when love seems to hate us” a close-up on the face of the couple in orange demonstrates the emotion hate. The close-up techniques throughout the film make evident the emotion Jasmine sings about. Medium close-ups demonstrate the individuals battling with each other; it is used with the blue couple to show their emotions as Jasmine is singing “Sorry if I sound so filled with blues.” Framing was a very essential tool in the video because it gives direction and insight on where the focus should be at a given point in the video.
Throughout the video a great use of color palettes are displayed. Colors are used within the video as symbols to define the different states of emotions. The video opens with antique color patterns in shades of grey. Jasmine begins singing “I’m not scared of Lions and tigers and bears” as a black heart appears behind her. She continues to sing about “being scared of love” with the color of the heart, black which is used to symbolize fear. The color blue used in the video represents the feelings of one couple, sad and depressed. While orange symbolizes the feeling of the second couple, confused. The color purple is used as a representation of rage. The commanding color balance throughout the video really highlights the colors and brings life to the video.
There are many different types of props used throughout this video. The prop on which the color is placed is also very demanding in the video. Contextual, people, and graphical props are used. One contextual prop was the yellow brick road which also parallels the video to “The Wizard of Oz” film. The individuals used in this video were the most important props. There were two couples, the orange couple who emotion was confusion represented the bear, and the purple couple who emotion was rage represented the bear. The props used throughout the video were imperative in connecting the lyrics to the video, as well as the video to the film.
The lyrics to the song that are being sung correspond prominently to the actions of the characters, the color palette used throughout, and the props. The framing, color palette, and the props used throughout the video paralleled the video to the lyrics and the film. Numerous framing techniques were used to show the emotion of the props. The acute use of the color palette defines the different states of emotion that Jasmine sings and the props display. The props, the colors, and the framing used in the video were very successful in connecting the video and the lyrics. “Lions, Tigers, and Bears” was a great digital music video, sung by Jasmine Sullivan and produced by Jive Records.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Freedom Writers
Yahkeira Readon
January 30, 2009
Blog #2
Freedom Writers
Freedom writers, is a true story about a teacher, by the name of Erin Gruwell, and her very diverse class in Long Beach, California in 1994. Erin chose to teach at Woodrow Wilson High School for the exact reason that those who were currently teaching there no longer wanted to be there, diversity. Erin was assigned to teach a classroom full of students from every race and nationality, students who had been labeled un-teachable and expected to drop out before the eleventh grade. The students sectioned themselves off in their respective areas in the classroom, sitting according to their gang affiliation. This arrangement, in which the students sat, reflected the war the students were fighting in against each other outside of the classroom. However the students were not the only one battling. Their teacher, whom they called Mrs. G was also fighting a war. The opening scenes of freedom writers foreshadow the events that take place throughout the movie, the teacher being a protector, the students coming together, becoming writers, and their dreams coming true.
The soundtrack, which is played throughout the movie and significantly in the beginning of the movie, is a song by artists Common and Will.i.am, “Dream.” The entire song is not played, only the part that contains the words that pertain to the movie “I have a dream...And one day… it’s going to work out.” In the opening of the movie, this one part of the song replays over and over, there is a big picture of the teacher, the main students, and behind the teacher is a notebook with writing and blotches of ink on the notebook. The song “Dream” is significant in that it foreshadows that although these kids are facing tough times, they should continue to dream because one day everything will work out. The teacher is shown so big in the opening credits, because she plays a big part in protecting the kids and fighting for them and their rights, the notebook with the writing and the ink blotches foreshadows the students in the movie writing about their dreams, which in the end come true. However, seconds after this freeze framed shot, you hear police sirens, screaming, news reporters, and you see pictures of a riot in Los Angeles.
The riot is used to foreshadow a war that takes place in the movie; however the riot was not the tool to use, it was not affective. The riot is very out of place and throws off the affect of the foreshadowing; it was something that took place years before the teacher began to teach. The riot was about the people in the city turning against and standing up to the authority which was abusing its power. So, they looted and damaged the city. The riot was used to foreshadow the wars that were fought by the students and the teacher, but the war in which the students and the teacher faced was very different from a riot. They fought in wars with their families, in their neighborhoods, with each other, and members of other gangs. And the teacher fought in a war at home with her father, who did not want her to teach, and her husband who felt that teaching had become her life instead of him. The best way to foreshadow this war in the beginning, and keep the strong and significant foreshadowing theme going was to show clips of a few of the wars in which the characters fought throughout the movie, and keep the soundtrack playing as the clips are just being flashed. The riot scene did not add to the movie, because it was not significant to the wars in which the students and the teachers fought. It was not authority the students were at war with, they were at war with themselves, and in the end they stood up and came together, and rose above the label that was placed on them. They proved to be competent and able to learn, and they learned a great deal from their teacher. Mrs. G taught them how to come together, tolerate, and respect each other.
January 30, 2009
Blog #2
Freedom Writers
Freedom writers, is a true story about a teacher, by the name of Erin Gruwell, and her very diverse class in Long Beach, California in 1994. Erin chose to teach at Woodrow Wilson High School for the exact reason that those who were currently teaching there no longer wanted to be there, diversity. Erin was assigned to teach a classroom full of students from every race and nationality, students who had been labeled un-teachable and expected to drop out before the eleventh grade. The students sectioned themselves off in their respective areas in the classroom, sitting according to their gang affiliation. This arrangement, in which the students sat, reflected the war the students were fighting in against each other outside of the classroom. However the students were not the only one battling. Their teacher, whom they called Mrs. G was also fighting a war. The opening scenes of freedom writers foreshadow the events that take place throughout the movie, the teacher being a protector, the students coming together, becoming writers, and their dreams coming true.
The soundtrack, which is played throughout the movie and significantly in the beginning of the movie, is a song by artists Common and Will.i.am, “Dream.” The entire song is not played, only the part that contains the words that pertain to the movie “I have a dream...And one day… it’s going to work out.” In the opening of the movie, this one part of the song replays over and over, there is a big picture of the teacher, the main students, and behind the teacher is a notebook with writing and blotches of ink on the notebook. The song “Dream” is significant in that it foreshadows that although these kids are facing tough times, they should continue to dream because one day everything will work out. The teacher is shown so big in the opening credits, because she plays a big part in protecting the kids and fighting for them and their rights, the notebook with the writing and the ink blotches foreshadows the students in the movie writing about their dreams, which in the end come true. However, seconds after this freeze framed shot, you hear police sirens, screaming, news reporters, and you see pictures of a riot in Los Angeles.
The riot is used to foreshadow a war that takes place in the movie; however the riot was not the tool to use, it was not affective. The riot is very out of place and throws off the affect of the foreshadowing; it was something that took place years before the teacher began to teach. The riot was about the people in the city turning against and standing up to the authority which was abusing its power. So, they looted and damaged the city. The riot was used to foreshadow the wars that were fought by the students and the teacher, but the war in which the students and the teacher faced was very different from a riot. They fought in wars with their families, in their neighborhoods, with each other, and members of other gangs. And the teacher fought in a war at home with her father, who did not want her to teach, and her husband who felt that teaching had become her life instead of him. The best way to foreshadow this war in the beginning, and keep the strong and significant foreshadowing theme going was to show clips of a few of the wars in which the characters fought throughout the movie, and keep the soundtrack playing as the clips are just being flashed. The riot scene did not add to the movie, because it was not significant to the wars in which the students and the teachers fought. It was not authority the students were at war with, they were at war with themselves, and in the end they stood up and came together, and rose above the label that was placed on them. They proved to be competent and able to learn, and they learned a great deal from their teacher. Mrs. G taught them how to come together, tolerate, and respect each other.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
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