Helen Humphrey-Taylor

'Paper Planes' - M.I.A The song 'Paper Planes' by M.I.A is a protest song that the artist is presenting her ideas on how darker-skinned immigrants are stereotyped in the West. M.I.A is singing about her own experiences as an English-Sri Lankan musician. This song expresses views on the generalisations, stereotypes and prejudices that immigrants still have to face regularly. I have picked this track for my music video due to how I believe that the protest about the ideologies that society have on immigrants is not expressed as much as it should be. This is not something that I have experienced myself, however I do feel a sense of injustice that a lot of people seem to perceive foreigners as a 'threat' to their own country. The protest song is an attempt to shift the negative wide-spread views of refugees as being prone to violence or laziness and I do believe it is still a very relevant topic that should be addressed regularly so I would like to make a protest ...

'Take the first 10 frames of 3 protest videos and analyse their shot type and duration, transitions between shots, M-E-S, and whether it is performative or narrative. Put a screenshot of each of these plus your analysis on your blog'. 'Toy' - Young Fathers  - This is an example of a wide-shot that displays the entire surroundings of what is believed to be where the music video will be set inside. It is quite a hostile shot in terms of the setting as the colour palette is predominantly dark grey and blue. The low shot of the building builds the dominance and superiority of this house. This is a narrative shot that is setting the scene for the video.  - This is an overhead shot of the grand staircase in the house. Again, there is a very hostile ambience to the mise-en-scene as the audience can see old paintings and a vintage staircase mixed with the flashing lights. This is also a very quick transition from the previous frame and this is prolonged further into t...

This music video by Taylor Swift displays a variation of techniques used to convey her ideas on equality and the social problems linked to this as well as online bullying which is not often a prominent topic in protest music videos which Swift has decided to bring up. Firstly, the long-shot used in the first minute of the video displays two very contrasting objects. The fact that Swift is seen relaxing in a pool while a few metres away from her, a caravan is on fire, is a way of perhaps conveying her ideas of the bullying that is directed towards her so often and the caravan on fire is a destructive metaphor to represent this. Swift is trying to signify that it does not bother her as she is seen so calmly in the pool. The lyrics also link to this particular shot as she is singing the title of her song 'You need to calm down'. These lyrics are a direct mode of address to her audience who are a segment of people trolling online and the singer is directly telling them they need ...

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS - Kendrick Lamar's 'Alright' Music Video (cinematography, editing, sound and mise-en-scene) Firstly, the music video uses a variety of techniques in order to convey Lamar's ideas about the treatment and life of African Americans in this period of time. The video begins with a wide-angle establishing shot of Oakland Bar Bridge that is in a black and white tone with a deep contrast that emphasises the hostility and ominous ambience. This is already to foreshadow that the mood of the music video is deep and its a way of signifying to the audience that this song will be based on a serious matter. This is also prolonged in the next 30 seconds as we see scenes of deserted locations and destructive imagery. This shot that is also near the beginning is one of the most powerful and significant scenes of the whole production. It presents a young black man being slammed down on a surface while being hand-cuffed by a white police officer before he attempts ...

REASEARCH OF GENRE - PROTEST SONGS Definition - A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change. These songs are usually written to be part of a movement for a cultural or political change and to try and draw people together and inspire them to take action or reflect. History - The earliest protest songs an the tradition of using music in this way dates back to the founding of America. - Joseph Warren's song 'Free America', was possibly the first protest song to have been sung out by American Soldiers. - Also, the song 'Yankee Doodle', which is now a popular children's song, also finds its roots in this era as it originates as a song sung by British soldiers to mock the Americans but taken up by the 'Yanks' to throw it back to the British. - In the early 20th century, as the American Civil War ended and America became divided by class and race, protest music evolved with the music of that era. - In the 1930s, more ...