Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The Book of Mormon

The subject matter mentioned in the musical could definitely be a sensitive topic for many. However, this does not necessarily mean it is inappropriate. The Book of Mormon is a collaboration with the creator’s of the television show South Park, that being said the subject matter presented should not surprise the audience. One may think that the musical solely ridicules Mormonism, however this is not the case as many other topics are revealed and humor is used to lighten the seriousness of the issue. Stereotypes of Mormons can be seen, but surprisingly a depiction of Uganda being a third world country is satirized. In the song “Hasa Diga Eebowai”, they allude to the topic of AIDS and genital mutations, which are serious issues but act as a way of diverting attention from the theme of religion. The song “Turn it off” refers to major stereotypes of Mormons and show how they are trained to think and can be naïve, the accuracy is controversial but the comedy is apparent.

In today’s society, The Book of Mormon is acceptable and insightful and does not go too far, this is so as society for the most part is already aware of this subject matter. This musical shows that religion does not necessarily have to be an issue that is handled with care. Although the ridicule may appear offensive, the audience is actually educated on Mormonism in a captivating way, by means of comedic relief.

I personally have never seen South Park before, so I wasn’t expecting what was going on through out a Broadway musical. Since I have never been to a musical before, and I thought it was an entertaining one to watch jut clips of. I enjoyed the songs that we did watch in class. I would say that it is the appropriate subject matter for the certain age it’s trying to reach, and that would be this generation. Its trying to each the new generation because they don’t go to Broadway shows and that’s what they’re trying to do. Everyone has a different take on what is to far, but for me I do not think it went to far throughout the whole play. The songs to me were very funny and kept me listening to the other than other Broadway shows. Religion is seen differently to everyone, and if they talk about it in the right way then I think its fine. "The Book of Mormon" had really good music that wasn’t boring at all. It had something to do with what was going on during the few clips we saw from it. They took an idea that they had and brought it to life that way they wanted to and it’s a whole new way to look at broadways.

As seen in yesterdays class, broadway musicals are changing from the classics they used be. In recent productions I feel as if each show is trying to out-scandal the other. From near death experiences during live shows like Spiderman, to risky scripts like the one in "The Book of Mormon". To some, like me, the script may be found as funny or creative, but to others it could be portrayed as disrespectful and rude.

"The Book of Mormon", took a good idea and put a funny twist on it. From the creators of the television show South Park, I believe everyone knew that the broadway production was going to be nothing like the others. I believe that this play took broadway, revamped it, and made it more appealing to the younger generations. From the catchy songs they created, to the conversations on stage between characters. Its these additions to broadway plays that help them become noticed and popular among critics.

The interesting thing about "The Book of Mormon", is that the music they came up with can be found so offensive yet the viewers cant seem to stop singing along because its so catchy! For example one song that is sang in the musical is, Hasa Diga Eebowai, which translates to, fuck you god. Not exactly something you want to be singing about, but yet you cant stop yourself. Its because of all these interesting quirks that "The Book of Mormon" has that has made it become one very successful broadway musical.


Skeptics Beware

Before seeing any type of performance, be it the local cinema or a Broadway play, the viewer should have some degree of knowledge about what he or she is about to see. If the viewer is one for The Book of Mormon or is planning on seeing the show, I recommend some  background information on the creators Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and also Robert Lopez who assisted with the music production. They are the master minds of South Park; the epitome of what show is not suited for an ignorant crowd. The show is full of crude humor, racism, sexism, violence, and overall satire pointing in all directions; from the local news to celebrities. In the opening disclaimer the creators include warning- " The following show contains coarse language and due to its contents it should not be viewed by anyone. If this is any indication to what their musical would be based on, take the hint.
To see this play is to have an open mind, and be ready for any, and all vulgor dialogue and musical numbers. I believe you also need respect because no previous theatre director or producer has accomplished something so audacious and cheeky (to put it mildly), and to have the piece turn out a huge success. Any press is good press, but for the Book of Mormon in particular, the reception was overall positive. Not only did fans of a mature age agree, but so did the Church of Latter-Day Saints who  did not protest in any measure, but agreed that just because the Book of Mormon can create laughter for one evening, doesn't mean that it inters with the fundamental faith of their religion. To have a large approval deserves a standing ovation, and if you want to join in for the round of applause see the play before its too late. You might be able to TiVo South Park reruns, but this musical will only be around for a limited time only.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

People and Religions in "The Book of Mormon"

“ The Book of Mormon” is a Tony Award winning, musical comedic Broadway play about people and religions created by the creators of “ South Park”, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and the co-composer of “Ave Q.” The play highlights religions in a comedic way through Mormon missionaries and people of Uganda using satire and dark humor in the songs.


In the song, “Turn it off”, the creators of the play point out that Mormons like to be ignorant, just like the first verse of the song, “ when you start to get confused because of thoughts in your head-don’t feel those feelings- Hold them in-in-stead!” The song says that Mormons are good at locking their feeling away by showing three different situations in which normal human should not be able to not feel anything: having an abusive father, having sister passes away, having homosexual thought. The song says that sometime, despite these are serious issues; the song has a fun, happy tone.


In the scene in which the two missionaries arrive in Uganda, the creators show the contrast between Mormons and Ugandans. As said in the song, “Hasa Diga Eebowai”, the Ugandans have completely lost faith. The song is made similar to “ Hakuna Matata” from “Lion King” to show that the real world is pessimistic, unlike fictional, animated world. Again, although the song talks about death, the creators still put it in a comedic way.


Although, the whole play may seem offensive to Mormonism, the creator actually showed the admiration toward Mormonism. In the song, “ I Believe”, the main character goes through character crisis. The song shows the strong courage to not lose faith even in the darkest moment, which is one of the qualities of Mormons, they never lose faith.


Overall, the satire and dark humor in “ The Book of Mormon” helps people realize how there are two sides of different beliefs: either strongly believe in something or not at all , and it is better to have a balance between those, not like the Mormons or the Ugandians in the play.

Change in American Theatre


            An argument can be made for the way musicals have changed. They are no longer peppy stories solely filled with love and happy families who go through a bit of a hard time in order to eventually be on the better side of things.  However, this transition from pep to reality is necessary to show the truth of society. In The Book of Mormon there is vulgar language as well as talk of homosexuality, which is uncommon in a musical. However, the time has come for musicals to evolve. Musicals need to become more relevant or they will lose their audience. Most people who go see a musical are considered “over the hill” and therefore fresh and relevant topics must be brought to the stage in order to engage a newer, younger audience.
            While some may find the materials in The Book of Mormon offending, I personally find them funny. This musical is satirical and is meant to be amusing, not to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, many do not realize that and think that the topics covered are distasteful. Instead, they are real. The language found on the stage—words such as fuck and cunt are words that have been finding a larger and larger base in our culture. These words are found in our movies and music, and once again, are subjected to target a certain audience. The Hangover and The 40 Year Old Virgin are not made for sixty and seventy year olds; they are made for young adults. The same can be said for the new musical and theatre finding its way to the stage.
            Meanwhile, art has contained nudity for hundreds of years, and has been deemed aesthetic; however, this new subject matter can be considered unpleasant. Once again, art has also taken a turn and become more violent and crude through graphic images through a variety of medium, the most prevalent in this day being graphic arts which can be found in video games and on the screen.
            Overall, as our society has evolved into one that is full of things that were once inappropriate but no longer seem to be so, as all societies do. As the status quo changes, musicals such as The Book of Mormon and Rent, which feature homosexuality, death, and foul language no longer seem extreme, they are just taken as entertainment that can be appreciated and even valued to bring a new standard to American Theatre. 

The Book of Mormon

I am not one to go to Broadway or to any theatre show for that matter, but I would make an exception for “The Book of Mormon.” From what I saw in class I found it to be hilarious and quite entertaining and if given the opportunity I would see it. What I enjoyed the most about this play was the fact that it was not would you normally see on Broadway; no special effects, no glitz and glam instead just funny and offensive songs. Take example the skit about spousal abuse, cancer, and being gay; the writers turned it into a very vibrant and fun sounding song. The content of the song is not typical of Broadway and something that you would not see in classic plays such as “Cats” or “Annie.” Additionally I enjoyed how the writers made “Hasa Diga Eebowa” meaning, “Fuck you God” paradoxical to the Lion King’s “Hakuna Matata.” Hopefully this play sends waves throughout the theatre world to gear plays towards a more youthful crowd rather than to the middle-aged and very young.

If you don't like it, don't watch it.

Going to the theatre is an act of one’s own free will. I assume that most people know the basic idea of the plays or musicals they plan to go see, so therefore, I believe that if people do not agree with the subject matter of a play, or movie, or musical, they should simply not attend. The Book of Mormon is without a doubt, a controversial musical. The songs from the musical can be taken as either offensive, political, or comedic. For example, “Hasa Diga Eebowai” uses language that is usually frowned upon by the public, but it is meant to shed light on the hardships that many Ugandans face while being humorous. Ultimately, the play was written to be hysterical. Theatre is a form of artistic expression. That being said, I do not believe that there is such a thing as appropriate or inappropriate subject matter on the stage. Mormonism is a controversial religion to begin with, and it is not the only religion that has been the focus of any artistic piece; whether satiric or not. The Book of Mormon discusses many other topics such as homosexuality, spousal abuse, and cancer. Though the topics presented in the musical are racy, they do raise many questions about Mormonism and their beliefs on certain subject matter. As the creators of the musical stated in their interview, they wanted to push social boundaries. Their musical definitely pushes boundaries to a whole new extreme that has never been done before. Not only is the Book of Mormon entertaining, it is also educational. The musical teaches about Mormon beliefs, while also making light of a religion that many people consider to be overly extreme. What I have seen of the musical definitely raised ethical questions, but when going to any play or musical it is important to know what you’re seeing because if it upsets you, avoid it.

The Book of Mormon

Personally, I found the Book of Mormon songs to be very inappropriate. I’m really rather surprised that it won best musical in the recent Tony’s because of its crude, over-the-top humor. I don’t think that religion needs to be a “hands off” issue on the stage, or in modern entertainment, but I don’t think it should ever be bashed or criticized in the way that it was in the Book of Mormon. I would definitely agree with anyone who says they went too far in the next to last song we listened to in class. I found it to be much more offensive than funny.

I believe people in entertainment should have the right to do or say whatever they want in their own show as long as people are given a fair warning beforehand. I personally would never go see this show and I find it surprising that so many people find it funny.

I don’t think so much that the content of the play is bad, just taken too far. A play based on the idea of Mormons, or any religious group for that matter, travelling to a country to try and convert people makes a lot of sense and can obviously be very funny. I just don’t think that humor needs to be presented in such a vulgar way.

Boundries

The theatre of today's society is all about pushing boundaries. Whether those boundaries be about love, sex, marriage, religion, race or any other controversial topic, you can bet that there's at least two musicals that discuss, in a rather frank manner, at least one (if not many) of these topics. The question is: when/who decides if these musicals go too far? Today, our musicals, (The Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ Superstar, Avenue Q, etc.) are much more open and willing to portray rather sensitive and what we consider "taboo" information. But is this bad? To some, many of today's musicals might come off as extremely vulgar, rude, and rather offensive, but in my opinion: I don't mind any of it. The theatre is one of the only places in which such topics can be discussed and portrayed in such a 'free' manner. Yes, it might be offensive, and a bit uncomfortable at times, but that's the point. These topics intrigue audiences and (even though we try to deny it) entertain us. They're our... "guilty pleasures" I guess you could say. We, the younger generation, are not as offended by language, vivid imagery, or other aspects of today's theatre that our parents and the generations before them would shy away from. So, I say that there's still plenty of lines that are left to be crossed and that we should be mature enough to accept these subjects. They're apart of life, simple as that. If you don't want to be subject to them, then you don't have to go see the musical - it's your decision; no one will force you.

The Book of Mormon

Today a lot of movies, TV shows, and music are all pushing the envelope to see how far they can go. I believe The Book of Mormon is the theater following what other media is doing today. In this show they put out things that are very controversial while making it comedic. In one act they talk about sexuality, abuse, and disease while still making the audience laugh. They are putting real stuff into the play while still making it very entertaining. You see this stuff in TV and movies all the time, but its finally started to make its way into the theaters.


The State of the American Musical

The Book of Mormon. Hilarious, Captivating, Catchy, Factually Correct, Controversial. All of these adjectives are correct representations of The Book of Mormon. Whether tackling the idea of ignoring negative/possibly blasphemous feelings with Turn It Off or blatantly giving the middle finger to God with Hasa Diga Eebowai, The Book of Mormon is an accurate representation of the modern American musical. In a time where the issues teenage sexuality, such as in Spring Awakening, and Mental Disorders, such as in Next to Normal, are openly discussed we can see that The Book of Mormon is just following the trend of pushing limits. In American Theatre today there is a movement away from the "fluff" of musicals like Oklahoma and The Music Man in which substance is severely lacking. This shift towards a more serious musical is positive. It incites audiences of my generation to seek out and watch musicals. As the audiences of the "fluff" generation of musicals age and eventually die this new era of musical keeps the art of Theatre flourishing by appealing to a new audience. In an age where we grow up fast, deal with issues such as war, terrorism, and biological threat we seek entertainment of a little more substance and a little less glitz and glam.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

responses to music videos in class

Britney Spears: Till the World Ends

This music video is pretty much all about how people should focus on the present and shouldn’t be afraid of the future. At the beginning of the music video, the scene is set on the date December 21st, 2012, which is related to how people believe that the world will end in year 2012. In that beginning scene, there are people running to a manhole trying to get down to the underground, which seems to be the safest place on Earth. As the song goes on, you can see how people underground just dance and totally forgot about what is going on on the surface, and in the end, the sun just shows up, and people start to go back on the surface again. The last scene in which people surface again seems to deliver a message saying that everything will be just fine, so there is nothing to be afraid about the future.

Devo : Whip It

First of all, I have to say that I have never heard of the song nor the band before, but I could say that they have enough confidence to do something out of box, which I think, seems to be something pretty normal in the music industry, in the U.S. during that time period. This music video did a good job on showing the band’s confidence and courage. The music video starts with a random guy with weird red helmet shows up with a whip. Throughout the music video, whip represents the courage, as it is something that can be used to tame vicious animals like lions or bears. Besides the whip, other stuffs that goes on in music video such as that lady with bad eyesight shooting a gun, a woman hit a guy in the rear or people cheering on a man and a woman making love , also represents the courage to do something without caring what other people think. Just like the song’s name, “whip it”, the music videos try to say that you should not be afraid about what other people think and just do it.

Blake Shelton : Honey Bee

Blake Shelton is someone who could represent country music, which should be the type of music that is simple, and talks about life experience that the artist goes through. In his music video, “Honey Bee”, Blake Shelton, sings about country love. Honey in the music video represents the sweetness and innocence of the people in the country who just falls in love for the first time. The scenes in music video are set in bright, sunshine, town in the countryside represent happiness in which people just satisfy with what they have. The way in which Blake try to impress the girl is very simple and naïve. This shows the honesty, one of the characteristics of most people in a small towns, in the country.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Hailey Gillis



Hi, I'm Hailey. I'm from Orange County, California.
I love going to the beach, shopping, and walking around Laguna. I plan on studying either business or math. I enjoy spending time with my family but I am also very excited to have this opportunity to live so far away from home. I also love to travel, which is why I switched to an independent study school for my last two years of high school. This allowed me to have a more flexible schedule and travel with my dad. Since switching schools I've been to London, Liverpool, Paris, Amsterdam, The Hagg, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Viarta, Scotland, and some other places that I can't remember to mention. I love my friends and all of my pets as well, especially my cats. My favorite movies include Legally Blonde, Ferris Bullers Day Off, and The Notebook. I like all kinds of music and I'm a very picky eater. I'm excited to meet new people here at Rollins!

Music Video Response

Britney Spears: Till the World Ends
The Music video is nothing less than what is expected from one the biggest pop singers of our generation. The new release had the fire and rapture that Spears had lost these past years due to harsh media attention and public opinion. It also literaly had fire and light work that inhanced that dramatic features of the video. It captivated the audience not only by the sex appeal that was achieved by the revealing dark attire and ripped clothing, but also with the dance routine. The mass number of dancers along with Britney as the focal point was the biggest appeal to the music video because one can only imagine the training and deliverance it takes to achieve an affect to correalate the movement of the body with the music. The setting of the video was located in what seemed to be an empty warehouse falling to ruins. With the title "Till the World Ends", the audience can assume that the city will soon be demolished by an unkown factor, but the beat goes on and so does Spears. 

Devo: Whip It
Devo, coming from the 80's, was a band unlike any other and from their "Whip It" music video, no bad will ever repeat them. It was random, eccentric, and carefree, but it worked. The video includes various ways in which people think of "whipping it"; from a group of cowboys to an older woman with a bowl of whip cream. The song itself is repetititve yet so catchy. The visuals are iconinc because who else could pull off black turtlenecks and energy dome headwear beside Devo?

Blake Shelton: Honey Bee
This is a the epitome of a summer good-feeling song. Its cliche setting of the country fields on a sunny day inhance the mood of simplicity and enjoyment. The lyrics are repetititive and it is easy for them to stay in your head for the rest of the day. The title "Honey Bee" plays a not so ironic role in the video because the girl who Shelton focuses on is selling honey and she captures his attention. She is a pretty girl and always smiling.  Although not everyday can be as happy and lighthearted as this music video, for a minute or two,  it takes the viewers worries away.

Video responses

The Britney Spears music video is filled with special effects and colorful costuming. The camera angles not only add emphasis to certain aspects of the scene, but they provide a sharp and bold look through each transition. the style of the video was dark; with a grunge feel (almost pre- apocalyptic) which helped to enhance to message of the song.


Devo's video is very comical in not only its meaning but styling of the video. The mixture of the country setting and characters intertwined with the band in their "futuristic" clothing only adds to the hilarity the song already possesses. The real question is: Why the flowerpots and goggles? Or why did they choose to have the actors over exaggerate all facial expressions?



Blake Shelton's video is a very light and "heart-happy" video. The lighting is very bright, which helps to add a certain glow to the scenery and characters. There was also plenty of light comedy (the boys, old man, etc.) to keep the viewer laughing all the way through. The allusions and metaphors in the chorus are adorable and should bring a smile to anyone's face.

Music Videos

Brittany

The video starts out very dark in what looks like an apocalyptic world. Like most of the music today Brittany's song is centered around sex. Everyone is wearing very little clothing and dancing all over each other.


Devo

The bands outfits are very strange and get your attention easily. I don't get the connection between the bands outfits, black turtlenecks and cone hats, and the country clothes everyone else is wearing.

Blake

In this video Blake is comparing the girl he likes to something sweet. Since he is calling her sweet, so she sells honey. Most people like sweet things and cant get enough of it. He cant get enough of her, so he constantly goes to her honey stand.

Response to music videos

Britney Spears "Til The World Ends"

The idea that sex sells in America is very prevalent in the video. Scantily clad men and women have made Britney a millionaire. The song has absolutely no depth. The entire chorus is "Oh".

Aside from the ever-present sexuality in the video, the cinematography was amazing. The shots of the buildings falling apart and the shots of earth from outer-space are breathtaking.

From a costumer's perspective the clothing was very steampunkesque. I could see the Victorian era inspiration, especially in the gown that Britney wore in certain shots of the video seeing as it followed the bodice styling of most Victorian gowns.

Devo "Whip It"

While "Whip It" also alludes to same sexual ideas as the Britney Spears song the difference in time periods is extremely evident. The men and women definitely have more clothing on. There was more let to the viewer's imagination than what was seen. Rather than the grinding in Britney's video you saw too people disappear amongst the hay.

I enjoyed the fact that the entire band wore the same thing and that they experiment with the sound of a whip cracking in order to create a new feel to the music.

The subtitling and acting in the video was very humurous.


Blake Shelton "Honey Bee"

The imagery of honey in the video reflected the "sweetness" if what Blake felt for the woman he is singing about. Honey is often associated with love in a lot of cultures so I found that kind of cool.

The color choices in the video (yellows, sepia tones, and bright blues) reflected the love aspect of the video but also gave it a country rustic feel. Blake takes the time to make it clear that he is a country boy and the lyric and imagery of the song/video well reflect that.

Music Videos: Breanna Rack

1) Till the World Ends- Britney Spears
The beginning of the music video uses mostly black and dark grey colors as if to explain that the world is ending and all is dark and dreary. People escape down in a man hole to an underground area that Britney is at where she is "dancing till the world ends." As an artist trying to recreated and maintain her image, she wears more clothes than perhaps she has in the past, but her and her other dancers remain fairly scantily clad and in mostly black ensembles. As the song progresses, we see an infusion of oranges, yellows, and red in both the scenery and the clothing. They also show scenes of buildings crumbling and red fiery rock soaring through the air. Towards the end of the music video, the color turns to almost all reds and oranges as an apparent meteor hits the earth and the world ends.

2) Whit It- Devo
In this music video the production was much lower of a budget than the Britney video. There was probably only one stage used with a pen and minimal graphics or props used. In the Britney video there was CGI of the world ending and tons of smoke and lighting that had to be customized instead of just general lighting in the Devo video. The wrist juxtaposes the country folk with the futuristic band members who are dressed in all black with red cone hats. The hats act as a gag to keep the audience engaged and interested in who these artists are and why they are choosing to dress in that particular fashion. The video is also overtly sexualized with captions such as "Ride 'em Cowboy" and "Come and get it" as well as girls in busty outfits  who become less and less clothes as they get whipped by the lead singer.

3) Honey Bee- Blake Shelton
This is also simple with two major scenes, his living room and the honey stand. The scenes are very stereotypical-- a country singer with his dog and guitar singing about a girl in a country style house and the other scene which is outside a farm house next to a field where there is a dirt road and his truck. In the chorus he compares himself to her saying that she is the more delicate side to him and his rough nature and that they could complement each other nicely. The music video goes along with the words-- about a girl that will be his "Honey Bee" who actually sells honey!

Country.

Typical country style visuals: outdoors, truck, plaid shirt, and dog. The music is very simple but can easily be found enjoyable. The man playing guitar in the video clearly isn’t play the guitar part we hear as it is obvious that his guitar isn’t even plugged in. The video features very limited visual scenes. It’s really just a back and forth between two parts. The colors in the video are very country and outside oriented: yellows, browns, and greens.

Blake Shelton

Response to Blake Shelton- Honey Bee


This video reminds me of a short movie almost. It has a more defined story line one can follow along. Its not to hard to figure out but there is also some humor acted out in it as well. For example he keeps buying all the hone yet the only one who has been eating the honey is the dog. Also with the dog he would often just scratch his ear or look around and made the music video seem realistic, instead of having one of the stage dogs that just lay their and don’t show emotion.

Whip It

Response to Devo- Whip It


In comparison to Britney Spears til the world ends video this one is not as well produced. Taking into consideration the time differences and the new technology that is available for artists to use, for the time it was created it may have been advanced. However I found that there was no real story line to it besides just getting the clothes off of the girl.

One thing I did enjoy about this video was the zooming in on the characters eyes. The boys in the band made it so that was all you could see by wearing turtle necks over their mouths and oddly shaped hats. This was interesting because in the eyes alone you could see so much emotion coming from each person. For example the older women reaction each time the whip was heard.


country

The country video had a lot to do with what was really being sung in the video. It didn’t have any body dancing with ripped clothes on or awkward looking clothes. Through out Blake’s song he incorporated what was really being told and it had a story to it unlike the others.

whip it

The whip it video is completely different look to it then the Britney video was. The outfits that were worn in the whip it video had nothing to do with the song at all. I don’t really know where they got the idea that the cones on their heads and weird looking turtlenecks were a good idea. Comparing the outfits to Britney’s video are so different that in the first video they were wearing no clothes and were dancing through out it all and it the whip it video they just stood there and whipped a woman and drank beer.

Response to Britney

Response to Britney Spears- Til the World Ends

After hearing this song all over the radio, I still love it just as much as i did the first time i heard it. However before this class today I had never seen the music video for it before. I found it very interested how it showed the contrast between what was happening under the ground compared to what was going on above ground. It was very interesting to see that she pulled in the December 21, 2012 end of the world fear into the music video. As it being a great concern to many her music video displayed how you can conquer anything even the end of the world.
Another thing in the video that i found very interesting, that has also been done in other music videos is the actions occurring to the beat. An example of this was when one of the girls jumped down from the sewer and as she landed the bass dropped.

britney

In the music video with Britney spears it in, it was mostly about the world ending and had a sex theme going on. The dancers were barley wearing any clothes, and also they were dancing all over each other. Most of the dancing had really nothing to do with the song itself, and party of the video was underground. This video didn’t surprise me because that’s what she likes to do in all of her music videos that she does. If you were to compare all of the videos they would all look the same with the dancing and the whole aspect of it.

Whip it.

Very old video. I very much enjoy the comical outfits. The music presents very different styles of instruments than from nowadays. It’s a very weird video with not a lot happening other than people whipping things. I find it very interesting that they actually show the band playing the music in the video as opposed to nowadays when you never see anyone playing instruments in music videos unless its an air guitar. I personally enjoyed this music video more than the Britney Spears one.

Britney Spears.

Not one of my favorite songs. I don’t really care much for nowadays music. However, the music has a steady pulse that makes you want to tap your foot and get into song. The words themselves, “Keep on dancin’ til the world ends” gives the idea that this song should be played in some sort of dance club for people to go crazy to.

Visually, there are a lot of bright lights almost as if it should be in a club or something and the people in it are simply dancing as the words of the song want them to do.

Music Video Responses

"Till the World Ends" - Britney Spears
One of the most important things when making a music video is the beat. It is important to change scenes at the beat, and that is exactly what the editor of this video did. Scenes were cut abruptly and did not last more than five seconds; that keeps the viewer intrigued.

The camera angles in this video were great. I loved how the camera was on the ground when the people were going underground and coming back up. The lighting made the video feel like an underground party atmosphere. The use of the blues, yellows, and oranges were great.

The costumes were awesome, and Britney's made her identifiable as the center of attention. All of the back-up dancers created the environment perfectly.

The entire mood of the video makes you want to be there, and when selling music that is probably one of the most important things a video can do.

"Whip It" - Devo
For starters, this video is hilarious, but that's the point. Again, the action in the video is on cue with the beat. For example, the whip cracks when the sound is played in the song.

This music video was definitely low-budget. Most of the action takes place in one general area, but the lighting and such is not as high-tech as that of the Britney video. Obviously, the times were different and the technology now allows for more extravagant cinematography and editing than in the eighties.

Overall, this video is great for a good laugh. It's meant to be hilarious, and it definitely is. Who would ever think that men dressed in all black, wearing red cone hats could be funny? Not me, but it is.



"Honey Bee" - Blake Shelton
This video also follows the same basic principle of cutting the scene at the beat.

The lighting in this video is very effective in telling the mood. It's a yellow, bright color, making the audience feel like they are in a warm, country place. This being a country song, the lighting fits very well.

The set is also important because you feel like you are down south, in a small country town.

The lyrics and the video match up perfectly and out of the three music videos, I think this tells the story the best. Everything from the costumes, to his house, to the car he drives make this music video good.