“Hip-hop is dead!” An investigation into the idealisation of consumerism and materialism in hip-hop music
"The modern promotion of consumerism in hip-hop culture is a far cry from hip-hop’s original intentions." Initially, hip-hop had been formed in order to provide the African-American community with a cultural identity. Hip-hop allowed artists to take their creativity and channel it into powerful expressions of political concerns, beliefs and ideologies that they had regarding their own communities. Artists such as Grandmaster Flash, KRS-One and RUN–DMC, to name but a few, acted as representative bodies for the communities which they came from offering the audience an insight into the struggles their particular community faced and ways in which those struggles could be overcome. However, as time progresses hip-hop has begun to carry “the stigma of an overindulgence in consumerism and materialism; severe addiction to the pursuit of money; and the pursuit of an unashamed irresponsible, careless lifestyle” promoted by newer artists in the industry such as Soulja Boy, 50 Cent and Jay-Z. This essay will explore the reasons behind why theorists such as Kaplan and Fiske suggest that hip-hop music has “in some way” been commercialized and to what extent hip-hop is being hindered and effectively is indeed ‘dead’ due to the mass exploitation of consumerism and materialism in both its lyrics and music videos alike.
Grandmaster Flash, considered to be a pioneer of the hip-hop genre, used his lyrics accompanied by a complementary music video for the 1982 hit single “The Message” to provide the audience with a realisation of how dilapidated his particular community, the South Bronx, was. The video, through mis-en-scenes occupied by high key lighting zoom shots of damaged housing projects and streets polluted with waste, represented gritty realism of the South Bronx providing the viewer with an accurate perspective of how ethnic minorities live in post colonialist western countries. The rapper referred to the borough as a “jungle” , describing his place of residence to be allegedly filled with “rats in the front room, roaches in the back, junkies in the alley with the baseball bat”. The audience to whom hip-hop had been formed to target and satisfy, predominantly African-Americans, felt more in tune and identified with the material being distributed by these artists and consequently purchased their material as they felt that it was accurately “reflective of the political, social and economical conditions of the time”. This brings in to consideration the ‘uses and gratification’ theory which suggests that the audience are not helpless victims of the media but instead use it to attain specific gratifications.
With his controversial hit single ‘Hip-hop is dead’ released in 2006, rap artist Nasir Jones, commonly referred to as ‘Nas’, boldly declared hip-hop’s demise primarily holding consumerism and materialism responsible, claiming they had “commercialized” the genre. However, it can be argued that Jones may have overlooked rappers present in America, namely Immortal Technique, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, who do not enjoy the same amount of commercial success as most artists, though release records in relation to issues other than just “bling-bling”. For instance, Immortal Technique’s latest record, “Open your eyes”, accuses the American government claiming “they fix elections, embezzle tax money, go to war for resources and fund terrorism for their own benefit”. In this respect hip-hop is very much alive and has not been killed by consumerism and materialism since Immortal Technique is an example of an artist who raps about political issues relevant to not only the African-American community, but Americans in general at this current moment in time.
In addition, it can be said that Jones was not taking into consideration international hip-hop acts and was “referring to American hip-hop being killed by commercialisation and heartless consumerism and materialism.” This is due to the fact that artists for example Nomadic Wax, an African rap group concerned with the state of democracy in Senegal’s capital city Dakar, use hip-hop as a voice of political activism and supplementary videos to portray the obstacles which they are faced with today. For example, the video of their newest number, “Niawal”, provides viewers with the harsh reality of third world poverty through the use of a panning shot which shows a street clustered with card board boxes that some unfortunate people (including children) have to call their home.
On the other hand, American rap artists including Nelly, T.I and Beanie Sigal on BET’s (Black Entertainment Television) debate programme entitled Hip-hop versus America , defend themselves by alleging that institutions will not play their singles unless their lyrics and especially videos are inclusive of the glorification of consumerism and material possessions. "MTV seems to be a perfect example: the content it broadcasts appears to be shallow, based around commodity images with no 'message' except the injunction to buy". MTV, in turn, disputes that sales figures of records such as Soulja Boy’s “Crank Dat” , which became the “third most downloaded song in American history with over 3 million downloads” , supports the fact that it is these types of singles which sell in this day and age. His follow up single, “Turn my swag on” , peaked #5 on America’s most selected Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown, which further gives evidence to the fact that MTV was right in its assumption. In his music video, “Turn my swag on”, a close up shot of Soulja Boy is shown in which he emphasises "I'm gettin' money!" and then goes on to blow his nose with a couple of dollars. This leads the audience to believe that the rapper truly has no respect for money as he is happy to do such things with it. With the use of a tracking shot, the camera follows the rapper into his closet in which a very brief 2 second shot is shown of him changing into his simple clothing. On the contrary a rather prolonged 6 second close up shot illustrates the amount of jewelry Soulja Boy has as he proceeds to spoil himself with wearing 6 golden chains. This shot not only highlights the amount of money he has but idealises his infatuation with material possessions and the idea of consumerism. Some may suggest that videos like, “Turn my swag on”, are thoroughly enjoyed by audiences as they offer vicarious living and escapism to those who wish to live a similar lifestyle. Therefore, popular rap artists, such as Soulja Boy, prove that hip-hop is dead as those who created the genre are no longer in control of the content that it produces. This enforces Karl Marx’s theory of ‘hegenomy’ which suggests that one group has leadership, dominance and control over others – in this case it is the institution who has power over the artists and what content they release.
What’s more is that non-commercial rap artists, for instance Drake, have too started to follow the trend of incorporating consumerism and materialism within their music in a bid to be recognised and break into the mainstream. Drake’s “Successful” has him wearing gold chains and driving Cadillacs whilst he expresses his desire to “want the money, money and the cars, cars and the clothes”. There is the possibility that these artists may be experiencing a lack of creativity as some would say that the African-American community no longer faces as many racial issues as it did twenty years ago when hip-hop first begun. This was at a time when the civil rights movement had just finished and African-American’s were trying to attain work, suitable housing and generally breaking out of the poverty trap. America has seen a drastic change in its treatment of minority groups and now has a black president, Barack Obama. Accordingly, rap artists may not be able to talk about the struggles that the African-American community faces presently, as some may argue they are minute or self helped.
Furthermore, the idealisation of consumerism and materialism in hip-hop music has had a domino effect on international rap artists, especially in the United Kingdom. Tinie Tempah, Chipmunk and Kano are all guilty of imitating their American counterparts. Tinie Tempah’s debut single, “Pass Out” , witnesses the rapper boasting “I got so many clothes I keeps em’ in ma aunts house”. The video has the rapper parading around in a Burberry suit. By April 2010 "Pass Out" has sold over 92,000 copies and went straight to #1 on the UK Singles Chart , beating mainstream pop competitor Rihanna’s "Rude Boy" , which is also guilty of using consumerism and materialism within its video through a montage sequence promoting fur. Perhaps international hip-hop acts have addressed the fact that consumerism and materialism is what sells not only American hip-hop, but other music genres too, for example pop. This argument would probably represent the international hip-hop acts’ explanations for contributing to the death of hip-hop.
Moreover, as illegal downloading continues to affect sales of singles and albums, rap artists are made to think entrepreneurially and find other means to make a profit. A favoured method recently by rap artists, especially mainstream rap artists, has been to establish partnerships with commercial organisations and promote the organisation’s products via both their music and corresponding videos. Hip-hop mogul Curtis Jackson, commonly referred to as 50 Cent, has constantly used this method of promotion to endorse his partner companies’ products. In 2003, Jackson alongside Sean Carter, commonly referred to as Jay-Z, appeared in a Reebok advertisement advertising the brand’s trainers. The advertisement, through the use of a various long shots, showed Jackson and Carter sporting Reebok t-shirts, shorts, socks and most importantly trainers. Similarly, through a close up shot, Jackson endorsed Apple’s iPod in his P.I.M.P. video. “The role of artists influencing consumer choices has been a central way for musicians to advertise their products" at a time when consumers have the choice to avoid advertisements thanks to television services such as Sky Plus which allows consumers to fast-forward advertisements and radio podcasts, which do not contain advertisements. Many rap artists have a great deal of influence on members of the audience as some may consider them to be role models and thus look up to them and consequently are influenced by their actions. “There exists a spectacularly symbiotic relationship between the dictates of the street code and an energetic American consumerism." If this is the case "the ‘hypodermic needle model’ would have us believe that music with such a message (consumerism at any expense) would motivate the masses to put consumerism at the centre of their worlds." This illustrates the point that "the media industries are ideal for testing out consumer power. What the media produce is not necessities we need to consume but forms of information and entertainment we may desire to experience". "Consumerism treats the viewer or listener as a consumer, as someone who is there to buy the goods produced" and it has clearly been working through hip-hop music as sales of iPods, after having featured in 50 Cent’s P.I.M.P. video, dominated digital music player sales with a percentage of over 90% of the market. Hence, hip-hop is dead as “the genre has become commercials” and no longer serves for the purpose of acting as a political tool for the African-American community to get their views across as it once had done.
In conclusion, the majority of rap artists being preoccupied with consumerism and materialism and idealizing them in both their lyrics and video’s alike has contributed heavily to the deterioration of the genre. What once served as a political mind field for the African-American community just two decades ago has transformed into a supermarket for listeners. Artists such as Nomadic Wax, Immortal Technique, Talib Kweli and Mos Def are still prominent rap artists, though only make up a fraction of the entire hip-hop music industry and can not be relied upon to keep the genre, ‘alive’, so to speak. The rap artists, the institutions and the audience all have an equal share of responsibility for the current state of hip-hop and only they can rehabilitate it.
Word Count: 2,028
Bibliography
Works Cited:
Books;
Bignell, Jonathan, An Introduction to Television Studies , (2001), Routledge, New York.
Creerer, Glen, The Television Genre Book, (2001), British Film Institute, London.
Laughey, Dan, Media Studies Theories and Approaches, (2009), Kamara Books,Herts.
Price,George, Hip-hop Culture, (2006), Library of Congress Cataloging,California.
Strinati, Dominic, An Introduction To Studying Popular Culture, (2000), Routledge, London.
Internet;
http://cue.ru.ac.za/music/2009/hip-hop-activism-consumerism.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3669/is_199704/ai_n8760647/pg_9/?tag=content;col1
http://musicouch.com/musicouching/mainstream-music-effect-on-popular-culture/http://www.newcommave.com/node/275
http://oldschoolscholar.com/real-hip-hop-in-africa-senegal-rocks-to-the-breaka-dawn/
http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/2875735/Rapper-Tinie-Tempah-on-course-for-No1.html
Moving Image text;
Crank Dat, Soulja boy.(2007),USA
Hip-hop is dead, Nas.(2006),USA
Hip-hop versus America, BET.(2008),USA
Niawal, Nomadic Wax.(2006),Senegal
Open your eyes, Immortal Technique.(2008),USA
Pass Out, Tinie Tempah.(2010),UK
P.I.M.P, 50 Cent,(2003),USA
Reebok Advert, Reebok.(2003),UK
Rude Boy, Rihanna.(2010),USA
Successful, Drake.(2010),USA
The message, Grandmaster Flash.(1982),USA
Turn my swag on, Soulja boy.(2009),USA
Works Consulted:
Books;
Casey, Bernadette, Television Studies: The Key Concept ,(2002), Routledge, London.
O'Sullivan, Tim, Media Studies Reader, (1997), Arnold, London.
Rayner, Phillip, The Essential Introduction, (2001), Routledge, London.
Internet;
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/eastbay/is-hip-hop-too-materialistic/Content?oid=1090155
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3669/is_199704/ai_n8760647/pg_9/?tag=content;col1
http://ffh.films.com/id/15116/Rhyme_Pays_Hip-Hop_and_the_Marketing_of_Cool.htm
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=909_1221000257
http://www.wiretapmag.org/arts/43305/
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
2nd draft of Critical Investigation
“Hip-hop is dead!”[1] An investigation into the idealization of consumerism and materialism in hip-hop music videos
"The modern promotion of consumerism in hip-hop culture is a far cry from hip-hop’s original intentions."[2] Initially, hip-hop had been formed in order to provide the African American community with a cultural identity. Hip-hop allowed artists to take their creativity and channel it into powerful expressions of political concerns, beliefs and ideologies that they had regarding their own communities.
The most popular and thus successful artists, for example Public Enemy were initially more than likely to be signed to the biggest labels which were at the time usually owned by African American entrepreneurs such as Def Jam Records which was owned by Russell Simmons. The reason for these artists’ popularity and success was that the artists signed to these labels were given ultimate freedom of speech and as a result were able to be as explicit as they wished with their lyrics due to the fact that their labels were under the control of independent African American entrepreneurs who were able to empathize and sympathize with the issues being discussed in the music. Therefore, the audience to whom hip-hop had been formed to target and satisfy, predominantly African Americans, felt more in tune and identified with the material being distributed by those labels and artists and consequently purchased their material as they felt that it would be accurately “reflective of the political, social and economical conditions of the time”.[3] This brings in to concept the ‘uses and gratification’ theory which suggests that the audience are not helpless victims of the media but use the media to get specific gratifications. Artists such as Ice-T and N.W.A, to name but a few, acted as representative bodies for the communities that they came from offering the audience an insight into the struggles their particular community faced and ways in which those struggles could be overcome. The issues discussed and the images shown in the videos of these artists presented the audience with the lifestyle that ethnic minorities live in western countries post-colonialism. During the 1980s, the decade in which hip-hop had become a phenomenon, African Americans were trying to overcome the obstacles which they faced due to the decades of racial intolerance and discrimination that they had been victims of as a result of them being used as slaves. These obstacles included residing in poverty stricken areas, lack of qualifications, the constant abuse of hard drugs and alcohol and gang violence which had conquered many neighborhoods.
A protest song which had been deemed to create a moral panic in society was KRS One's, “Sound of da police”. The music video includes shots of innocent African American civilians being beaten by the police. These shots do not last long though are constantly apparent throughout the music video in the form of black and white flash images to connote the hard hitting reality of police corruption. The song gained a considerable amount of criticism by governing bodies and faced censorship and regulation within a week of its release. Although, many people from the music world and African American society were supportive of the song as they felt that the rapper had been accurate in his portrayal of the police’s behavior towards ethnic minorities.
There is no question that since the birth of hip-hop the genre has been ever evolving from the politically conscious rap of the 1980s to the socio-economic violent rap of the 1990s. The past decade, however, has concentrated on a new wave of hip-hop– commercial rap or “ringtone rap” as referred to by some. "Let's face it: many rap songs celebrate, if not downright glorify, materialism. To signify baller status, you're encouraged to have a "Rollie" on your arm like Snoop Dogg, "cashmere thoughts" like Jay-Z, and "mustard & mayonnaise" like E-40. Otherwise, as Too $hort might say, you's a "broke biatch."[4] However, what explanation is there to justify the recent trend of the idealization of consumerism and materialism in hip-hop today?
Many rappers within hip-hop have a great deal of influence on members of the audience as some may consider rappers to be role models and therefore look up to them and as a result are influenced by their actions. “The role of singers influencing youth consumer choices has been a central way for pop musicians to differentiate their products in a very competitive market".[5] If this is the case "the ‘hypodermic needle model’ would have us believe that music with such a message (materialism at any expense) would motivate the masses to put consumerism at the centre of their worlds, with little or no regard to the rest of society. "[6] This illustrates the point that "the media industries are ideal for testing out consumer power. What the media produce is not necessities we need to consume but forms of information and entertainment we may desire to experience".[7] "Consumerism treats the viewer or listener as a consumer, as someone who is there to buy the services and goods produced".[8] However, if some are influenced by rap artists that they look up to then they automatically feel the need to purchase what the rap artist is advertising rather than realize that their desire is only a want not a need.
Furthermore, it has been said that recent hip-hop records and albums, like other genres of music, have been decreasing in sales. This is partly due to the fact that many consumers now illegally download music rather than legally purchase it. However, it has been argued that a lack of creativity in recent hip-hop records and albums has resulted in the decrease of hip-hop record and album sales. This may be true as some would say that it is this lack of creativity which encourages the idealization of consumerism and materialism in hip-hop today. They may have a lack of creativity as some would argue that the African American community no longer faces as many racial issues as it did twenty years ago when hip-hop first begun. Evidence to suggest that this statement is true would be that the United States of America now has a black president and as a result it can be said that the African American community are no longer challenged with the ‘glass ceiling’ in the workplace. Therefore, artists may not be able to talk about the struggles the African American community faces and as a result "the only topics discussed are “bling-bling”, how many guns you have, and ‘ho’s”.[9] Soulja boy, a new rising artist in hip-hop, is one such example of an artist that exploits the genre with countless content of music about materialism and consumerism. In his music video, “Turn my swag on”, a close up shot of Soulja Boy is shown in which he emphasizes "I'm gettin' money!" and then goes on to blow his nose with a couple of dollars. This leads the audience to believe that the rapper truly has no respect for money as he is happy to do such things with it. With the use of a tracking shot, the camera follows the rapper into his closet in which a very brief 2 second shot is shown of him changing into his simple clothing. On the contrary a rather prolonged 6 second close up shot illustrates the amount of jewellery Soulja Boy has as he proceeds to spoil himself with wearing 6 golden chains. This shot not only highlights the amount of money he has but idealizes his infatuation with material possessions and the idea of consumerism. The connotations of this shot suggest that the rapper regards material possessions to be of a higher importance than basic necessities.
"Back in the day, Run-DMC’s mega-hit My Adidas promoted consumerism through its music video as a form of rebellion. More recently, however, as savvy teens lose interest in traditional forms of advertising, product placement in lyrics and videos has become big, big business for manufacturers and rappers alike."[10] “There exists a spectacularly symbiotic relationship between the dictates of the street code and an energetic American consumerism."[11] Manufacturers, such as the record label companies that rap artists now belong to who are not exclusively controlled by African American entrepreneurs anymore but predominantly Caucasian American men, recognize this fact and as a result persuade the artists signed to them to implement the idealization of consumerism and materialism into their music and videos as much as they possibly can as this would help the record company to establish multi-million dollar deals with industrial organizations as well as help the artist to sell what ever product it is that they endorse or are themselves selling. These habits are supported by television institutions playing the videos such as MTV. "MTV seems to be a perfect example: the material it broadcasts appear to be shallow, based around commodity images with no 'message' except the injunction to buy".[12] Ironically, this commercialization coincides with a decline in rap sales and pressure from critics of the genre.[13]
Most debut albums of rap artists discuss issues affecting the African American ghettos and communities as that is where the rap artists are from. However, once an artist reaches his or her second album they are no longer able to discuss those issues as they are no longer affected by them. This may be another possible reason as to why consumerism and materialism is idealized within hip-hop and its videos as the artists no longer have anything meaningful that they can talk about. Alternatively, these rappers may just be happy that they are now being able to receive the consumer and material goods they once dreamed of purchasing but were never able to due to economic issues and as a result are celebrating the fact that these consumer and material goods are now available to them and so try and encourage consumers to purchase consumer and material goods as the rappers really enjoy them such as 50 Cent who glamorizes an iPod in his ‘P.I.M.P’ video.
Moreover, according to respected rapper LL Cool J, “the African American community has self-esteem issues” and in order to combat these they glorify materialism and consumerism in their music and videos to make themselves and others who may have the same concerns feel better about themselves. This may be the case of why in hip-hop videos dating back to the early 1990’s women have been portrayed as sexual objects to a masculine patriarchal society in which women’s bodies are objectified by their male counterparts. These kinds of representations enforce Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze and suggest that women are just sexual beings and have no other purpose but to serve their superior male counterparts. However, according to the theorist O’Sullivan, "Consumerism, by its very nature, is seen to encourage an anarchic individualism which runs riot with possibilities for solid and stable identities".[14] This suggests that consumerism being implemented into hip-hop actually helps the African American community to gain an identity. Although, the theorist Bernadette would disagree as she claims that “hip-hop videos bring together two cultural forms which have a history of objectifying women - television and hip-hop".[15] "My son loves hip-hop, and I can't even let him watch videos because of how the women are portrayed. I refuse to have a son who does not respect women. The other thing I can't stand is the consumerism and the lack of balance in content. Both of those bring us down as a community as opposed to building us up"[16], is what a concerned African American mother had to say regarding women in hip-hop videos.
Hip-hop was founded and established within the U.S. The U.S is known for its’ advertising. This may be the case of why consumerism and materialism is so idealized within hip-hop and hip-hop videos today. "In a fiercely competitive media environment, broadcasters and other producers desperately vie for our attention"[17] and his has become the case for hip-hop’s artists as according to writer Nelson George, “hip-hop songs and their videos have become commercials”. Therefore, it can be said that now as artists compete with one another to sell their music it is similar to the competitive media who desperately vie for the audience’s attention to sell the products they endorse of have made. "Exponents of consumer power claim that audiences pay little attention to ads and are certainly not manipulated into buying products advertised at them".[18] This is most probably why industrial organizations have decided to advertise through videos such as ‘Apple’ through 50 Cent’s, ’P.I.M.P.’ video as they recognize that consumers no longer pay much attention to advertisements but are easily influenced by rappers whom they idolize.
Overall, it can be said that hip-hop has been heavily influenced into the idealization of consumerism and materialism in its lyrical content and musical videos. It looks more and more likely that hip-hop as a musical art form has drifted away from its original intentions of political and social rap and has become a source of advertising through its videos for industrial organizations and rappers in the hip-hop music genre. However, this statement is not entirely correct for two reasons. Firstly, there are still a few rappers left in hip-hop whom actually stick to its basic principles and have every intention of making their music politically and socially reflective of the African American community such as Kanye West, Common and Talib Kwali but to name a few. Secondly, the idealization of consumerism and materialism has only affected the American hip-hop community not the global hip-hop community. Hip-hop may have been formed within the United States but it has expanded as an art form internationally and in most other countries hip-hop is respected for its original intentions of political and social music affecting a certain community. One example includes, Nomadic Wax, an African rap group whom rap about democracy in the African state of Dakkar. One thing is clear, Nas was clearly referring to Hip Hop being killed by American commercialization and heartless consumerism."[19]
Word Count: 2,330
Bibliography
Works Citied:
Books;
An Introduction To Studying Popular Culture, Strinati, Dominic, (2000), Routledge, London.
An Introduction to Television Studies , Bignell, Jonathan, (2001), Routledge, New York.
Media Studies Reader, O'Sullivan, Tim, (1997), London, Arnold
Media Studies Theories and Approaches, Laughey,Dan.(2009), Herts, Kamara Books.
The Key Concept, Casey,Bernadette, (2002), Television Studies, Routledge, London.
The Television Genre Book, Creerer, Glen, (2001), British Film Institute, London.
Internet;
Cue Online , Kriel,C.(2009)
Communication Studies , Watts,E.(1997)
East Bay Express , Arnold,E.(2008)
Films Media Group , Hamilton,N.(2004)
Live Leak, Nordinary,M.(2008)
Musicouch , Young,S.(2007)
New Comm Ave , Cook,D.(1985)
Old School Scholar , Ball,Q.(2009)
Wiretap , Thill,S. (2007)
Moving Image text;
Hip-hop is dead, Nas.(2006),USA
My adidas, RUN-DMC.(1986),USA
P.I.M.P, 50 Cent.(2003),USA
Sound of da police, KRS-ONE.(1993),USA
Turn my swag on, Soulja boy.(2009),USA
Works Consulted:
Books;
Rayner, Phillip, (2001), The Essential Introduction, Routledge, London.
Internet;
White,S.(2009), Mpelembe Network
[2]http://cue.ru.ac.za/music/2009/hip-hop-activism-consumerism.html
[3]http://www.newcommave.com/node/275
[4]http://www.eastbayexpress.com/eastbay/is-hip-hop-too-materialistic/Content?oid=1090155
[6]http://musicouch.com/musicouching/mainstream-music-effect-on-popular-culture/
[7]Laughey,D.(2009).p.46
[9]http://www.newcommave.com/node/275
[10]http://ffh.films.com/id/15116/Rhyme_Pays_Hip-Hop_and_the_Marketing_of_Cool.htm
[11]http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3669/is_199704/ai_n8760647/pg_9/?tag=content;col1
[16]http://www.wiretapmag.org/arts/43305/
[17]Laughey,D.(2009).p.47
[18]ibid
[19]http://oldschoolscholar.com/real-hip-hop-in-africa-senegal-rocks-to-the-breaka-dawn/
Friday, 19 March 2010
Progression Report & Action Plan (Second Installment)
Progress Report:
So far we have managed to mock up a story board for the title sequence of our practical production in addition to writing up interviews for the 3 interviewees who we will be interviewing. We've also managed to complete the filming of 2 of our 3 interviews. Other filming has also took place such as of Gurvinder (the presenter of our documentary) walking around and various shots of Greenford High School (the location in which one of the interviewees will be interviewed - Michael). Songs which we will be using within our practical production documentary have been obtained too.
Action Plan:
It's vital we complete filming by latest Sunday afternoon. The filming remaining is of one of the 3 interviewees we intend to interview and various shots of different locations such as Ealing town. Then we must start editing on monday.
So far we have managed to mock up a story board for the title sequence of our practical production in addition to writing up interviews for the 3 interviewees who we will be interviewing. We've also managed to complete the filming of 2 of our 3 interviews. Other filming has also took place such as of Gurvinder (the presenter of our documentary) walking around and various shots of Greenford High School (the location in which one of the interviewees will be interviewed - Michael). Songs which we will be using within our practical production documentary have been obtained too.
Action Plan:
It's vital we complete filming by latest Sunday afternoon. The filming remaining is of one of the 3 interviewees we intend to interview and various shots of different locations such as Ealing town. Then we must start editing on monday.
Personalised Plan (Targets and Next Steps) for Critical Investigation
Critical Investigation title:
An investigation into the idealisation of consumerism and materialism in Hip-Hop music
After recieving feedback from Mr.Bush and numerous members of the class, I have set myself several targets and next steps to take that will ensure I improve my critical investigation and achieve one grade higher then I currently have.
Targets:
Firstly, it is vital that I include atleast double the amount of quotes my essay currently possess (9). What's more is that only one of these quotes is from a book whereas the remaining 8 quotes have been obtained from websites. Therefore, I will either need to implement the quotes I researched previously a couple of months ago or find new quotes which would be relevent to include within my critial investigation. Secondly, I have only touched upon media theories and wider contextual issues within my essay and so it would be ideal for me to have more evidence of the research I have collected (such as audience theories relating to my chosen topic i.e. marxism and SHEP i.e. post colonialism and slavery). Thirdly, it would be good if I included specific lyrical content and music videos within my critial investigation essay that supported my argument. Lastly, I will need ammend my footnotes . Although I have produced footnotes I have not actually written them out correctly as the name of the book needs to be at the beginning of the footnote, in addition to being in alphabetical order.
Next Steps:
In order for me to achieve the targets which I have set my self I will need to firstly get a hold of atleast 10 more quotes which would be relevent for me to include within my essay. Furthermore, I will need to collect research on specific media theorists and their theories as well as wider contexual issues and implement what I have found within my essay. Moreover, I should pick out particular lyricial content and music videos which I will will be relevent to support my argument and talk about them within my essay. What's more is that I will need to re-write my footnotes as they have not been written correctly. This means ordering them alphabetically as well as stating the name of the book at the beginning of the footnote.
If I am successful in achieving my targets and carrying out my next steps I am sure that I will improve my current grade and achieve atleast one grade higher.
An investigation into the idealisation of consumerism and materialism in Hip-Hop music
After recieving feedback from Mr.Bush and numerous members of the class, I have set myself several targets and next steps to take that will ensure I improve my critical investigation and achieve one grade higher then I currently have.
Targets:
Firstly, it is vital that I include atleast double the amount of quotes my essay currently possess (9). What's more is that only one of these quotes is from a book whereas the remaining 8 quotes have been obtained from websites. Therefore, I will either need to implement the quotes I researched previously a couple of months ago or find new quotes which would be relevent to include within my critial investigation. Secondly, I have only touched upon media theories and wider contextual issues within my essay and so it would be ideal for me to have more evidence of the research I have collected (such as audience theories relating to my chosen topic i.e. marxism and SHEP i.e. post colonialism and slavery). Thirdly, it would be good if I included specific lyrical content and music videos within my critial investigation essay that supported my argument. Lastly, I will need ammend my footnotes . Although I have produced footnotes I have not actually written them out correctly as the name of the book needs to be at the beginning of the footnote, in addition to being in alphabetical order.
Next Steps:
In order for me to achieve the targets which I have set my self I will need to firstly get a hold of atleast 10 more quotes which would be relevent for me to include within my essay. Furthermore, I will need to collect research on specific media theorists and their theories as well as wider contexual issues and implement what I have found within my essay. Moreover, I should pick out particular lyricial content and music videos which I will will be relevent to support my argument and talk about them within my essay. What's more is that I will need to re-write my footnotes as they have not been written correctly. This means ordering them alphabetically as well as stating the name of the book at the beginning of the footnote.
If I am successful in achieving my targets and carrying out my next steps I am sure that I will improve my current grade and achieve atleast one grade higher.
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Monday, 22 February 2010
Linked Production Information
Research on a text which relates to our linked production:
A documentary that I feel is most similar to the critical investigation that my group and I intent to produce is the BAFTA award winning documentary series Ross Kemp on Gangs which is distributed by Sky1. This documentary series follows Ross Kemp travelling around the world conserving with gang members, locals who have been affected by gang violence and the authorities who are attempting to combat the problem. The primary target audience the show appeals to would most probably be teenage males who are considering to be gang members and would hope to discourage them to take that path. The secondary target audience the show would appeal to would be anyone.
The representation of gang members portrayed by the show tries to remain netrual but more often than none re-enforces the negative stereotype associated with gang members. The show explores the reasons behind the formation of the gang and as to whether or not the gang members are content with being apart of a gang giving them a chance to justify their actions, however the gang members themselves conform to the stereotype that they are labelled as having. The members of these gangs are always of the C/D class group or below as they are always residents of poor areas in in inner cities.
The show is filmed realistically with very few or no camera edits. Ross Kemp provides a voice over for the show and interviews gang members who's presence and voices are sometimes distorted to protect their identity.Whilst filming interviews sometimes low key lighting is used to complement the image of the gang members. Props are used by gang members such as various guns, knives and other weapons. Kemp is always careful not to wear colours that would affect gang members so more oftan than none wears simple coloured clothing such as black or grey. The shots are usually medium shots but in a episodes over the shoulder shots as well as close up shots are used.
A particular episode that my group and I would look at would be when Kemp interviwed gangs in London on the first series as London city is the same location in which my group and I will be filming the opening scene.
A documentary that I feel is most similar to the critical investigation that my group and I intent to produce is the BAFTA award winning documentary series Ross Kemp on Gangs which is distributed by Sky1. This documentary series follows Ross Kemp travelling around the world conserving with gang members, locals who have been affected by gang violence and the authorities who are attempting to combat the problem. The primary target audience the show appeals to would most probably be teenage males who are considering to be gang members and would hope to discourage them to take that path. The secondary target audience the show would appeal to would be anyone.
The representation of gang members portrayed by the show tries to remain netrual but more often than none re-enforces the negative stereotype associated with gang members. The show explores the reasons behind the formation of the gang and as to whether or not the gang members are content with being apart of a gang giving them a chance to justify their actions, however the gang members themselves conform to the stereotype that they are labelled as having. The members of these gangs are always of the C/D class group or below as they are always residents of poor areas in in inner cities.
The show is filmed realistically with very few or no camera edits. Ross Kemp provides a voice over for the show and interviews gang members who's presence and voices are sometimes distorted to protect their identity.Whilst filming interviews sometimes low key lighting is used to complement the image of the gang members. Props are used by gang members such as various guns, knives and other weapons. Kemp is always careful not to wear colours that would affect gang members so more oftan than none wears simple coloured clothing such as black or grey. The shots are usually medium shots but in a episodes over the shoulder shots as well as close up shots are used.
A particular episode that my group and I would look at would be when Kemp interviwed gangs in London on the first series as London city is the same location in which my group and I will be filming the opening scene.
Linked Production Information
Next Stepts and Progress Report for the following week:
Monday: Research '4 Docs' (online/ textbook)
Tuesday: Research into my genre
Wednesday: Research into similar texts (Ross Kemp On Gangs: London)
Thursday: Interviews/ shots (using external mic)
Friday: Interviews/ shots (using external mic)
Saturday: Interviews/ shots (using external mic)
Sunday: Interviews/ shots (using external mic)
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