MUSIC VIDEO and SEMIOTICS

C. MUSIC VIDEO and SEMIOTICS

The fact that MTV has become the ultimate forum on which youth is both expressed and constructed has transformed the music video not only into the most effective tool for promotion within the music industry, but also into a powerful ideological force (Peeters, 2004).

In the past, music video was considered as only a means of entertainment, only a visualization of a song. However, as time goes by, MTV dominates music industry and youth culture. It makes music video goes beyond that. Nowadays, music videobecomesone of the medium to communicate ideas and ideologies which are brought by its performer through visual and audio representation. It is In the past, music video was considered as only a means of entertainment, only a visualization of a song. However, as time goes by, MTV dominates music industry and youth culture. It makes music video goes beyond that. Nowadays, music videobecomesone of the medium to communicate ideas and ideologies which are brought by its performer through visual and audio representation. It is

The position of music video as an ideological tool transformated by MTV goes hand in hand with music video‟s purpose and specificity which are called

creation of stars. Music video tries to create a utopian world in which the star of music video becomes the center of that world. The star in music video represents the ideals of the time and becomes the role model for society. Therefore, music video can be analyzed because it consists of symbolic contents and signs which carry beliefs and values of happening social phenomenon of a given society. It carries meanings and leads the audience to find and produce the meaning based on their own interpretation. Those symbolic contents can be found in three essential elements of music video. They are music, lyrics, and moving images. They work together in forming the whole meaning of music video (Carlsson, 2010).

In analizing and interpreting music video, signifier from different social domains and interdisiplinary approaches of the field of cultural studies are needed because music video is a multidimensional object (Peeters, 2004). One of the approaches which can be used in analizing and interpreting music video is semiotics. It was Ronald Barthes who pionerred the use of semiotics in analyzing popular culture to show how such events generate meaning.

1. BARTHES’ SEMIOTICS THEORY

Semiotics is the study of sign. It studies about how meanings are produced

Saussure‟s semiotics are two different things because Barthes‟ analysis is always questioning the „falsely obvious‟, what appear to be normal and seemingly right (Barthes in Storey, 2009, p.118). By doing so, he makes what is firstly implicit to

become explicit. In Saussure‟s theory, the signification is built only by the physical form of something that can be seen, touched, heard, smelt, and tested

which functions as signifier and the concept which function as signified (Berger, 2000, p.36- 37). It can be made clearer by seeing dog as an example. In Saussure‟s theory, dog is a four legged barking animal. It only denotes and describes the univesal literal meaning which is shared by members of any cultures. While in

Barthes‟s, dog has another meaning more than just an animal that is unpleasant human being. It is so because Barthes adds connotation meaning which is formed by signifier and signified of Saussure‟s theory and cultural belief or attitude or ideology of a given society (Baker, 2000, p.69).

language

myth

Thus, Barthes adds another level of signification to Saussure‟s signification in which denotation and connotation work together resulting „myth‟.

I. signifier

II. signified

III.

sign sign

In accordance to Barthes‟s concept of sign, sign in music video can also express denotative and connotative meaning. That is why semiotics is applicable in music video analysis. It is the use of semiotics to understand what these signification process convey.

2. MISE-EN-SCENE and CINEMATOGRAPHY ELEMENTS

The meaning of music video also depends on its moving images. Similar with movie, music video gives an artistic side in the form of its short moving images. It basically has the same elements with film. Thus, it can be analized using the mise-en-scene and basic cinematography elements of film since they go to the same kind of recording of happening that involve pictures, sounds, acts, and narration (Monaco, 2000, p.38- 39). Therefore, it is needed to look at and analize the moving image using mise-en-scene and basic cinematography elements.

Mise-en-scene is a theatrical process of staging which encompass elements below( http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/mise-en-scene.htm ),

1. Setting : it is a location or place where moving image is taken

2. Lighting : it is the control of light in scene to establish mood and direct attention to detail. It also helps the vievers to understand setting as well as

characters within that setting. Lighting is devided into three parts

a. Key light :It provides the primary key of a light source, tends to illuminate most strongly the shot‟s subject and also cast the strongest shadows. Key light is divided into high key and low key light. It is said as high key if there is a little contrast between bright and dark, obtains soft and revealing of details.In a broad sense, high key lighting means that the figure is taken using bright lighting so it produces bright picture with less shadows. High key lighting is usually used to convey and arouse feeling of transparency, intellectuality, and clarity. It is usually used for upbeat scene, scene that full of hope, happiness, and good feelings. While low key tend to

be in high contrast, harsh and hard.

b. Fill light : It is usually positioned near the camera roughly 120° whose function is to soften the illumination upon the subject and its

surrounding area.

c. Back light : It comes from behid the subject and separates the subject from the background, counter-balancing the brightness of the key

light.

3. Costume : it is the wardrobe which is worn by the characters to strenghten their characterisation.

4. Hair and make up : Similar with costumes, hair and make up function to strengthen the characterization.

5. Properties : It strenghtens the mood and gives the further definition to a setting.

6. Figure behaviour : It desribes the movement, expression of the actors and other figures (animals, animated figures, etc) within a given shot.

Besides the elements of mise-en-scene, it is needed to pay attention on the cinematography elements. As listed by Holland in her The Television Handbook (2000), the cinematography elements are, p.

1. Shot

ECU (Extreme Close-Up): Detail shot.

VCU (Very Close Shots): Face shot, from mid-forehead to above the chin.

BCU (Big Close-Up): Full head, the head nearly fills the screen.

CU (Close-Up): Just above the head to the upper chest.

MCU (Medium Close Shots): Cuts the body at the lower chest, just below the armpit.

MS (Medium Shots): Mid-shot or waist shot, cuts the body just below the waist.

¾ Shots: Cuts just below the knees.

MLS (Medium Long Shot): Full length shot, the entire body, plus a short distance above and below.

LS (Long Shots): The person occupies around two-thirds of screen height.

2. Camera angle: it deals with the angle of the camera in relation to that which it records. The angles could be at eye level camera, low level (looking up

camera), of high level (looking down camera).

3. Camera movement: the movements of the camera during a single shot including titling, panning, tracking and so on.

3. MUSICAL FEATURES

Since meaning in music video is built through music, lyrics, and images within it so it is essentialy needed to examine the musical features of a certain music video. As stated by Miller (2005), those musical features include, p.

1. Pitch : it describes thespecific frequency or tuningof a tone

2. Tempo :it is the speed of a beat of music.

A faster tempo means a faster beat; a slower tempo makes a slower song.

3. Dynamic : it is a level of loudness and softness of a song.

4. Accent : it is the way notes is stressed to gain special effects.

5. Melody : it is a progression of tones and rhythms. If it is made well, it can give emotional effects to the hearer the melody is the heart of the song.

4. COLOR

Color plays an important roles in making the mood of an image and giving

a certain meaning. Thus, it is needed to look at the representation of meaning of

( http://www.changingminds.org/disciplines/communication/color_effect.htm )

1. Red: warmth, love, anger, danger, boldness, excitement, speed, strength, energy, determination, desire, passion, courage.

2. Orange: cheerfulness, low cost, affordability, enthusiasm, stimulation, creativity, aggression, food.

3. Yellow: attention-grabbing, comfort, liveliness, cowardliness, hunger, optimism, overwhelm, Summer, comfort, liveliness, intellect, happiness,

energy, conflict.

4. Green: durability, reliability, environmental, luxurious, optimism, well- being, nature, calm, relaxation, Spring, safety, honesty, optimism,

harmony, freshness.

5. Blue: peace, professionalism, loyalty, reliability, honor, melancholia, boredom, coldness, Winter, depth, stability, professionalism, honor, trust

6. Purple: power, royalty, nobility, elegance, sophistication, artificial, luxury, mystery, royalty, elegance, magic

7. Grey: conservatism, traditionalism, intelligence, serious, dull, uninteresting

8. Brown: relaxing, confident, casual, reassuring, nature, earthy, solid, reliable, genuine, Autumn, endurance

9. Black: Elegance, sophistication, formality, power, strength, illegality, depression, morbidity, night, death

10. White: Cleanliness, purity, newness, virginity, peace, innocence, simplicity, sterility, snow, ice, cold

CHAPTER III ANALYSIS