A Very British Gangster

Opening Analysis

In the start of the documentary some of the conventions used are film conventions. The first set of titles you see tell you the company behind the documentary, it then tells you who the film is by. ' Dare Films in association with Five Presents a film By Donal Maclntyre'. 

The Tv show was broadcast on channel 5. During the show you see a use a crane shots of the streets of Manchester as well as canals. Manchester is also a white working class town and the Noonans are a white family. The first shot you see is an establishing shot of the city, by showing an urban landscape at night it suggests bad things happen at these times, especially different crimes.

When you see the establishing shot, a sound bridge was used as the train was passing, this was the first time you heard the voice of Dominic and this is when you are then shown the 3 men stood in the foreground with the city behind them, Dominic is shown to be in the middle of the 3 of them, this shows his importance but at the same time shows how hes got people around him, possibly protecting him as they are shown to be looking around. 

The rest of the titles then come up and this shows the 3 men to be walking from under the bridge, this in itself would suggest trouble as bridges are normally seen to be places of trouble as its sheltered away from other areas. 'A Very British Gangster' them seems as though its being projected onto the front of the bridge, this then informs the viewer that its a film and not a show. The camera angle that's used is a low angle shot. By placing the camera on the floor in front of the men, it shows there dominance. The music used in this scene is a bouncy type of rap music, as this is more of an expressive genre of music, it links to gangs and the urban lifestyle of drugs and alcohol. Before the end of the music, a slow motion walk sequence is used, which could be a homage to the film Reservoir Dogs.

The voice of Donal is then heard again as a sound bridge, this narration gives you an insight into the crimes Dominic had committed. While this is being said, the use of CCTV footage is used, this suggests the men are under surveillance as they are known for causing trouble around Manchester. As you are shown Dominic walking into a bar, you are then shown him stood overlooking the people dancing, you then learn that he use to be a bouncer at the club Hacienda. 

A sound bridge is then used to take you into the new scene of a close up of Dominic's hands. Both are shown to have big gold bracelets on, as well as two gold rings. This relates to the chav lifestyle, but it could also suggest that he's well off. The shot is then used to cut a way to the next scene of an extreme close up of Dominic's face. The use of the ECU allows the viewer to see the reaction of Dominic as well as his emotions as hes telling you his story about what happened at The Dog's Head as the pub is now known. It's at this time that we as viewers find out that he beheaded a dog of a gang and took it into the pub where there were so that he could threaten them and stop them from causing trouble at the Hacienda. We also learn that he didn't get charged for this crime.

Horizontal tracking is then used, this follows 3 of the men including Dominic down the street, one shot is just focusing on their legs the other on their faces. You are then shown his house, this shows actual events as its happening, for instance him enjoying family life with the people around him. You are then told about him being a godfather and this makes you question whether its referring to the film. As you are being told about actual events in his life you find out that he use to have a large family but at the same time had many friends. Dominic said that when everyone was at the house, there'd be about 50 people there, and they'd be all over the house as it was only small. You then find out that his mother burnt down the house so that she could get the money for a larger house. 

A bullet proof vest is that shown, you see more of a jokey side to Dominic and it's as if he doesn't take it too seriously that he has to protect himself everywhere he goes. You then find out that he has set up his own security business, as a viewer it makes you quiestion whether he is a reformed character or if he does it to give him chance to commit more crime. However he is a open person, telling Donal of the crimes he has commited, this includeds a number of roberys. He then turned round to say that he would never grass if something happened as they would never survive it, this was quite a serious statement as he would rather sort out his problems himself.

Before the end of the 5 minutes of the clip you are shown archive footage of one of the riots that he had orchrastrated while in prison, this shows him to be dancing ontop of a building with other inmates. You as a viewer then find out it cost the stat £50 million to sort of the problems caused when the riot took place.

Comparing the conventions of two documentaries

Comparing the conventions of two documentaries

Documentary 1 - Confessions of a Serial Killer/ 1994/ Crime

- The opening credits tell you of the things Jeffrey Dahmer did, for example it says '17 MEN & BOYS KILLED' as the viewer of this documentary you are bound to know that these were the crimes he committed and convicted of before you have even watched it. The titles are made to stand out against the black background and this can be seen with the use of white and red writing. As the documentary is about a serial killer the red emphasises the words and automatically you associate the colour with blood. 

- In the first minuet of the documentary Stone Phillips who is the interviewer poses questions, but at the same time makes statements that allow you to get a feel for whats to come, it is here you also see different snippets from the rest of the interview, that entices you as the viewer in. 

- After the credits take place you see Phillips stood in what looks like an office environment, talking towards the camera this is an example of a Talking Head, someone with authority that is presenting the facts to the camera. 

- The music that is played in the background is also quite eerie, this makes the documentary uneasy which it is as you are finding out about a serial killer. 

- There isn't a big range of shots within the first 5 minuets of the documentary. Close ups tend to be used as you are able to see the reactions of the interviewees, in this case Jeffrey himself and his father who is also present. You also see a wide shot before the interview starts and this sets the scene of the room in the prison, you are then able to see the set up of the equipment and the people that are present at the time, including police officers. 

Documentary 2 - World Cups most shocking moments/2010/Sports

-Talking head - Peter Crouch and Richard Bacon, both presenting. Close ups of their faces are used to show their facial expressions while talking. 

- Various interviews from famous people have also been included during the documentary

- Voice over, exciting music which follows a theme when each country is spoke about. However even though there is music being played you are able to hear whats being said. 

- There is also a comedy element that comes from peter crouch when he is talking about his experience when playing football
- The title also stands out and shocks you as it's in your face
- Graphics used to show who's being interviewed and what the games are that the archive footage shows

Conventions list - Similarities and Differences 

- The documentary on the World Cup includes an voice over on top of some of the footage, however both videos include talking heads which present to the information to the camera

- Both of the documentaries have title sequences that stand out. There both powerful and have a dominating title to draw in the viewers.

- The music used links with the atmosphere of the documentary. For example, Confessions of a serial killer has quite haunting music, which is more fast paced, whereas the music used in the World Cups most shocking moments was more upbeat as it isn't a very serious subject.

- Archive footage has been used in both documentaries, as well as graphics. 

Documentary

Codes of convention

The opening of the documentary needs to capture the audiences attention quickly, this means the question of the of the documentary needs to be answered at the start in order to communicate with the audience and keep them enticed throughout the remaining programme. Examples of this are

- Why is Britain the teenage pregnancy capital?
- Will we get out of the double dip recession?

- Why is Tamworth classed as the most obese town?

Actuality
Filming real life events as they happen. However this can prove difficult with certain things like filming a hurricane or filming in a war zone. 

Fly on the wall
Film real people as they do real things, this focuses on there lives. This includes things like conversations and relevant issues. 

Voice over
Most documentaries have different voice overs and narrations, however if there is music played in the background this would have to be turned down to enable the viewer to hear what is being said. 

Graphics
Graphics are normally seen as text, maps, drawings or photographs. They are most commonly seen if somebody is being interviewed and the information you are likely to see would be the name of the person and there job title. 

Interviews

An expert interview with someone who has ample knowledge of your topic and can give a clear insight into the subject and the issues that might occur. Quick snippets of an interview would work well, if the responses are good, especially as the opening gives you an insight of whats to come.

Vox Pops
Random interview with ordinary people on the street with a hand held camera. The interviewer would initially ask people what they thought of a subject.

Talking head
A person that is present on screen that is talking straight at the camera. This person would be authoritative and would present the facts to the audience.

Music
Critical in the opening sequence but the sound shouldn't override a narration. Balance sound and images carefully and fade them in appropriately. Incidental music, a soundtrack or even a relevant song should usually accompany the opening sequence.

Titles
Titles are important as it is the first chance you as a viewer get to see the title of the show, these should burst onto the screen and announce the title in a dramatic way. 

Born To Die - Lana Del Rey

Born To Die Analysis

From the album Born To Die that was said to be 'a dark love story seen through hopeful eyes' the music video and song to Born to die were meant to be about how she'd found someone she was happy with, this is meant to be different to how she's felt before.

From analysing Lana's video, I have discovered that the lyrics to the song do fit the video, this comes across when listening to the lyrics as well as watching what's going on, for example the video is part performance and part narrative and through listening to what is being said you start to see that the storyline is about a couple. 

Use of the American Flag.

The first thing you see when the video starts is Lana and a male character stood in an embrace positioned in front of an America flag. When looking into where she was from I found out that Lana is American herself so it could be a way of showing her nationality. The use of the flag also becomes apparent in her first music video, Videogames.

Tracking shot of the ceiling.

A tracking shot is then used to show Lana's new location. This follows the ceiling of a large space, which could be related to religion. As the camera reaches the back wall the lyrics come in as the camera begins to close in on Lana.

Centralised between two tigers.

From the shot you are shown Lana to be in the centre of two tigers, however they don't seem to have much significance throughout the video unless the lyrics 'come take a walk on the wild side' resemble the two tigers.



Other things that become quite apparent from watching the video is that Lana seems to wear white quite a lot. From the lyrics 'we were born to die' it makes me wonder if she is in Heaven as the world she is in is dreamlike.



Shows Lana walking towards the new character.

As the video carries on, you are introduced to a new character in the video, he is first seen waiting by a car for Lana, who then goes towards him.

Lana watching her boyfriend.
Many of the clips following this one also
includes the two of them sat in the car.

This is the first time in the video that you start to understand that the song will be about a relationship and it is the first of many clips showing the two of them together.

Close ups are then used to show how close the two characters are especially being in the front of the car. From the screen shot on the left you can see how Lana is watching her boyfriend, and from the clip you can see that focus pull is being used as you can't see the man clearly.

Medium Long Shot - The main focus is on the hand gesture,
however the camera angle that has been used is far
 enough away to allow you to take in more of the scene.

While this is going on, the video goes from what is happening in the car to Lana sat in the large room. This part of the video is now more performance based than the rest, this shows her to be singing the lyrics.
However the video then gets more serious and by using a medium long shot it shows the male character to make a gun shape out of his hand and holds it to her head. This happens when she sings the line 'you like your girls insane' and this sends mixed messages as they looked like they were getting on before.

Lana then goes on to whisper 'we were born to die' into the ear of the male,
this is where you start to wonder about what will happen.

From this screen shot, you can see that the use of
 body language in the video is quite important.

In the next part of the video the scene is set in a bed room and the lighting used is one of the key features. It first shows Lana to be alone but then as the darkness covers her and then moves again the male is shown to be lying next to her and it shows her face to be expressionless.  This carries on for the next few scenes and it then goes on to show the male to be stood in a room behind Lana with his hands by his throat, to me it looks as though he's making motions that suggest he might try to kill her.

The next few scenes take place in a car, throughout this time you see both characters, but the body language of Lana doesn't seem to be very positive, making me think that she doesn't really want to be in the car with him, maybe even with him at all. As the video progresses you are then taken back to the main hall where the video begins, once again showing her to be alone.

Lyrics heard at this point are 'You and I we were born to die'
and from this you as the viewer realise she has
 died due to the fact she's going into the light. 

Following the hall ways, you are shown the interior of the space. With the use of lighting, different parts of the building are uncovered, this shows the walls and the ceiling. But as well as this forward tracking shots are used, this makes you as a viewer follow where the camera is going. Reverse track is then used as Lana is walking towards a door way, the camera then changes using a long shot which then shows her to open the door, walking into a white light. 

Reverse track is then used, but this time it starts close up to the male characters face and as the camera moves back, it reveals Lana's body lying limp in the arms of the male. The scene at this time shows a car to be on fire in the background, and as the camera gets further away the fire is the last thing you can see.

 A close up used at the start of the video is then used at the end, showing both characters to be in an embrace with the use of a medium close up. 

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Directed by Mark Romanek, the video was created to capture the essence of Johnny in his youth and in his older years. When filming Cash was 71 years old, and sadly passed away 7 months after filming.

From looking at the video, many things become significant, this includes religion and money. But at the same time Mark uses archive footage, in which he shows Cash as his younger self enjoying the life he was leading. 

These are some of the things I have picked up on when watching the music video. 

The music video cuts on the beat, this shows a statue of a man, but at first the shot is quite wide, showing some of the leaves behind. The next time the beat comes in, the video has been cut so that a close up of this statues face can be seen, when this was done, I was unsure as to what significance this figure might have in the video. As the next cut shows somebody on a horse, to then go on to show a large fruit bowl, full up of things like grapes and bananas.

This clip is then followed by a close up of Johnny playing his guitar, this shows his frail old hands, but still shows how music is still in his life even at this late stage. As well as noticing that he has a black guitar, you notice that he is wearing black clothing, which for Johnny Cash was quite symbolic.

After seeing the first part of the song being performed by Johnny, you are then shown an American flag, this shows his nationality and it also gives the video a setting as you know that the footage has been taken in America as you see a sign for the House Of Cash Museum which was set up in Nashville, Tennessee. However from seeing this sign you learn that the museum was closed to the public and then later closed down.

The use of close ups and extreme close ups, especially of Johnny's face are used to show his age. The fact age is significant in this video actually makes me wonder why he's made the video, but as it carries on, you see him sat at his piano with his hands of the lid covering the keyboard, which makes you ask yourself whether he's actually going to play it or not. Following the line 'I remember everything', seeing Johnny as his younger self, this flashback then comes back to the present showing him opening the piano to play, it then becomes apparent that this will be the last time.

Showing Johnny to be sat at his piano before he begins to play.

Johnny's mother.

More archive footage of him is then used, again showing him when he was younger, but this time he is shown with children, possibly his or even his grandchildren, but from seeing this, you see him when he had life in him, whereas now, he isn't as young as he use to be. From this, one of the lines in the song is 'Everyone I know goes away in the end' this creates many different meanings to me as a viewer and it suggests that he could push people away, but then as he's older you start to relate this line to death and that is when you see a picture of his mother in a frame on his wall.

The video then shows footage of the museum, it is shown to be dusty and abandoned and you then see Johnny's records broken on the floor, which in the music industry is a large achievement. But even as a massive star, Johnny use to go into prisons to perform and a clip of this is seen in his video, but is it possible that he once went to jail and by him performing it was showing himself as a reformed man.

A broken record left on the floor of the museum.

'You stay the hell away from me you hear' is a line you hear from a clip you see, this suggests he could be talking to the devil, especially as the song seems quite negative towards some aspects of life, and throughout the video you see things that are symbolic to Christianity and religion. This again becomes more apparent in the video as you see him taking his wealth for granted when he is shown with caviar and lobster in front of him. But when he sings ' I wear this crown of thorns' he is shown to be sat in a large chair, maybe even a throne, but on the table in front of him there is champagne and a large turkey ... So could this be saying it's his last supper ? The only other thing that then resembles religion is when he tips red wine away. This shows Johnny to be selfish, whereas Jesus turned his blood to wine to enable him to share with others, whereas Johnny hasn't, you can see this as there is no one around him.

Archive footage is then used again to show Johnny going home when he was younger, to have a video camera at that time would suggest that he was quite privileged and even wealthy as it wouldn't have been something for everybody to have at the time. The video then becomes quite sad as the line you hear is 'What have I become'. From having him question himself to then show his wife behind him looking quite sad, you feel quite sorry for him. This is because you realise that there must have been times in his life that he might have regretted doing and for him to look back on this is upsetting. You are then shown archive footage of him with his family, this shows him and his family to be happy and enjoying themselves whereas  now, he doesn't seem as happy as he use to be.

Here you can see his wife behind him.

At the end of the song, the tempo of the last verse increases, this is together with more archive footage of him when he visited the jail, of the life that is around him, there is even footage from a film and this shows Jesus in the crown of thorns, then being nailed to the cross. The feeling you get as a viewer is quite uneasy as you start to wonder what he's thinking about if he can relate himself to Jesus in the way that he might have done something wrong but maybe hasn't been punished for his actions and this enables him to get a lot of lost feelings out. Furthermore, the use of archive footage near the end of the song definitely brings out emotion and by using footage of him finishing a song when he was younger, starts to bring the video to a close to then show a close up of his face which shows in to look down at his keyboard to shut the lid on it. The emphasis on the use of the piano then makes you ask the question on whether this was the last time he used it, and it was. His last song was Hurt, the closing of the piano symbolised this and by having the screen fade to black it makes you as the viewer of the video sit and think about what you have just watched. This video in a way summed up all of Johnny's life for him then to die later that year.

After closing the piano, Johnny wiped his hands across
the lid of the piano and then the screen faded to black.

 

Johnny Cash - Hurt Lyrics

Hurt Lyrics

 

Below are the lyrics to the song Hurt by Johnny Cash. Here you can see that I have annotated the lyrics. The reason I have done this was so that I had an image of what I thought the music video might be like before even watching it.

 

History Of Music Videos

The History Of Music

During the 40's Jukeboxes became a way of playing music in clubs. Originating in America, Soundies were three minute films featuring music and dance performances that could be played on them, it was more like a projection machine that was accessible to people in bars. The videos you could see ranged from listening to jazz, to watching dancers and chamber musicians, to even seeing Doris Day. From 1940 to 1946 this was the earliest version of a music video that could be seen.



Jiles Richardson also
known as the Big Bopper

In the late 50's the term 'music video' had been used in a interview with Jiles Perry Richardson, a singer and song writer, known as the Big Bopper at the time. It was around this time that the rise of Rock n Roll became apparent with stars such as Buddy Holly and Johnny Mathis becoming more and more popular until the mid 50's where Elvis came on the scene, taking the Rock n Roll world by storm becoming the most popular singer of the time, making television appearances as well as topping the charts with songs like Jail House Rock and All Shook Up.

But it was apparent that in Britain the take over of American music was happening, with stars having to record versions of others songs however some of the war time stars like Vera Lynn were still able to make it into the charts and top them.

                          

Know as the musical revolution and the time of freedom, the 60's became the time of music videos, but it was also a time of influence. This came from America and was strong in Britain at the time, introducing soul and blues into the country. Bands such as The Beatles took this influence and it helped them to created there music. One song that did exceptionally well was 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' which became the groups first number one on the American billboards. However during this time the band released a number of films that were able to market their records. A Hard Day's Night was the first film they released as a band in 1964. It was

never really seen as a music video from the way it was filmed, but it proved to be a success for the band, unlike their second film 'Help' that wasn't received as well.

After the success of this many other rock and roll groups did the same, releasing promo films that were able to show off their performances. And this was seen in the 70's when Queen released 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in 1979. The creation of this short film meant the band could send their music wherever they wanted, enabling them to promote themselves. It was also the first time since The Beatles release A Hard Day's Night that more techniques were used in the making of the film, this includes:

- The use of dissolve and superimpose
- Zoom
- Stage lighting and spot lights
- Use of effects
- And even more of a performance based video

But there still wasn't a lot of opportunities during the 70's due to the fact music videos still weren't very popular but many musicians would still perform on shows such as Top Of The Pops. It was then in 1979 that 'Video Killed The Radio Star' was released by The Buggles, later becoming the first video to be shown on MTV whey they first broadcast on Saturday 1st August 1981.

As MTV had taken off, the 80's became a great time for artists as music videos became more and more popular. The time of 24 hour music also came about. With the come back of Michael Jackson and his album Thriller many other stars started to emerge, this included Madonna, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson, who both along with Michael were some of the first African American musicians to be showed on MTV.

The 80's also saw the use of synthesisers in music videos. In Madonna's 'Material Girl' video, New Wave Music was used. This consisted of synth arrangements with a robotic voice that would repeat the hook of the song.

In 1986 Robert Palmer then released the song 'Addicted To Love'. This later became a deconstruction when Shania Twain was inspired by what he had done and remade his video in her own way when she released 'Man I Feel Like A Woman' in 1999. In her video she had men stood behind her instead of women like Robert did, the instruments the backing dancers had were similar as they were white in colour. The backdrop of the sky was again the same being red in colour.

Robert Palmer in his music video for Addicted To Love. Here you can see the white instruments that have been used and by looking at the image of Shania in her video you can see she has used similar instruments. Other similarities can also be seen.

 Shania Twain's video Man I Feel Like A Woman can be seen to have similarities to Robert Palmer's addicted to love, this includes the arrangement of her and the backing dancers, with Shania centralised like Robert was, except she is surrounded by males and he women.



Screen shot from Eminem's
music video 'Just Lose It' showing
him dressed as Michael Jackson.

The song 'Beat It' by Michael Jackson has also been made into a spoof. A man called Al Yankovic made a parody of the video called 'Eat It' getting '7,941,880' on his video and not only this from this and other videos he has made he has been able to make money from his the work he's doing, while at the same time stars are also making parody's of songs, an example of this is Eminem when he released the video to 'Just Lose It' showing that he had incorporated ideas from Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'.



A screen shot from
the music video 'Scream'.

By the time the 90's had come around more genres of music were being introduced such as RnB, Hip Hop and rap. These became mainstream and are now common. On the 1st of January 1995, Janet and Michael Jackson had the most expensive music video with 'Scream', it cost them $7 million.

At the time, you would have also heard music from MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, both hip hop artists with songs like 'Can't Touch This' and 'Ice Ice Baby'. British artists also did well at the time, this included bands such as Westlife and Take That, however girl band The Spice Girls also did well, getting 9 number ones throughout the decade.

In the 1990's the rise of platinum records became apparent, with more artists selling more records all the time, a 9 times over platinum record holder was Elton John with 'Candle In The Wind' in 1997 eventually becoming the best sold single of all time to this date.

However with the growth of technology, from 2000, the music industry has changed rapidly. People now have access to YouTube, allowing them to watch the music videos of thousands of artists and upload their own videos, as well as projects being set up allowing the fans of artists to take part in the making of music videos. One example of this was 'The Johnny Cash Project' allowing fans to add things to the video such as images that they have drawn.



The equipment also being used in the last few years has topped that of the previous years. Professor Green used a 360 degree camera to record his performance of 'Remedy' allowing his fans to interact with his video and allowing them to see what goes on around all of the venue.