Media 2 - Mr Halsey

1)  Music Video - introduction and factsheet questions 2)  Music Video theory and This Is America analysis 3)  Common -  Letter to the Free  context and analysis 4)  Michael Jackson -  Billie Jean  context, analysis and MM article

Media Magazine reading: Billie Jean , birth of an icon Go to our Media Magazine archive and read the case study on Billie Jean - birth of an icon (MM62 - page 20). Answer the following questions: 1) What was the budget for Billie Jean? How did this compare with later Michael Jackson videos? The budget for Billie Jean was $50,000 2) Why was the video rejected by MTV? MTV rejected it because, as When they took it to MTV they refused to air the video, arguing that it didn’t suit their ‘middle America’ audience. Mercifully for Jackson, the president of his record label, Walter Yetnikoff, threatened MTV saying:I’m pulling everything we have off the air 3) Applying Goodwin's theory of music video, how does Billie Jean reflect the genre characteristics of pop music video? framework to begin analysing the video. Genre Characteristics - The video contains many conventions of the pop genre: lip-synching, performance interwoven with narrative, dance routin

Social and cultural context Read this Billboard interview where Common talks about Letter to the Free , political hip hop and contemporary American society. Use the article and the notes we have made in lessons (also available above) to answer the following questions on the social, cultural and genre contexts for Letter to the Free . 1) What other projects has Common been involved in over recent years? Common takes on stages performing many powerful songs including Letter to the Free and The Light in order to speak out passionately to raise awareness and black love. He also starred in a Film 2) What is the 13th Amendment of the American Constitution? One shall not be treated as a slave unless they have committed a crime meaning that they can be punished and used as slavery 3) What were the Black Codes? The Black Codes was introduced after the American Civil war whereby Black Americans are not entitled to freedom and that they should be compelled to work and been given low wages.