2. About Jake Nava.. Jake Nava grew up in Hackney, London and attended the University of Westminster. He is an English music video, advertising and feature film director. He has moved to the United States and is signed to a film production company in the UK (Battlecruiser) and in the US (FM Rocks.) Alongside directing music videos, Jake Nava has also directed commercials for many comapanies including; HSBC, Revlon, Armani, Rimmel, Puma, Clinique and L’Oreal. Appearences in some of these adverts include; Beyonce, Kate Moss, Jessica Alba and Halle Berry.
3. Why Jake Nava? When researching music video’s, ‘Single Ladies’ (Put A Ring on It) by Beyonce was seen as a recurring ‘iconic’ music video. As the video is watched globally and become so popular, it was interesting to see which video director made it, and if his/hers other video’s had become as popular, or if he produces them for as popular artist’s as Beyonce.
4. Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it.) The video featuring 3 dancers on a plain background was inspired by the Bob Fosse choreographed performance by Gwen Verdon in ‘Mexican Breakfast’. ‘Single Ladies’ was shot at the same time with ‘If I were a Boy’ this was to emphasise the duality of the artist and more aggressive alter ego Sasha Fierce. ‘If I were a Boy’ was also directed by Jake Nava, but the budget was spent almost entirely on ‘If I were a Boy’ so they had to downgrade for ‘Single Ladies’. Both were shot in black and white. Jake says that the styling was inspired by a vogue shoot, and although it was the least expensive and took the least amount of time, it ended up being the most iconic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyHVQT8aIBM
5. Goodwin Applied to ‘Single Ladies’ Music Video’s demonstrate genre characteristics: The dance routine – fierce. Relationship between lyrics and visuals: ‘Put a ring on it’, and then the girls hold out their hand for their ring finger. Voyeuristic treatment of the female body - They want you to look at the women dancing, and how they are dancing. Intertextual reference to the performance by Gwen Verdon in ‘Mexican Breakfast’.
6. Personal/Signature Style. Through looking at Jake Nava’s later work a recurring style seen is how women are looked at for their bodies and then the men are show more dominant. Both female and male video’s are either in black and white or have dark/dim lighting. Britney Spears: My Perogative. Filmed in black and white, like the Beyonce video she looks fierce and is looked upon for her body. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Ia-hcBf3w&ob=av2e 2004 Robbie Williams: Lovelight. He’s shown to be more dominant (shot looking upwards at him.) Dark lighting and the women are looking at him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvSDqgu6Y4I 2006 Mariah Carey: Shake it off. Has dark lighting and shows men looking at women and their bodies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZVdDl_asYY&ob=av2e 2005
7. Music Genre’s/Particular Artists. Since 2000 Jake Nava seemed to be working more with girl bands including The Spice Girls, Atomic Kitten, Mis-Teeq and Destiny’s Child. These were more pop songs and dance numbers. From around 2005 and onwards he has began working more with solo artists which have produced more sophisticated video’s and for a more adult audience. P!NK Nobody Knows 2006 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPMajX8DWRE Spice Girl Holler 2000 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCm7p2uCZyg&ob=av2e
8. Likes/Dislikes on his work I dislike his older work with the girl band dancing in time with the music, I think this was the correct style for when it was filmed but now I feel its quite out-dated, and spectators watching it today would find it predictable. I do like the scene’s of when filming on stage/in the street etc. They don’t necessarily link in with the lyrics but you can make it unpredictable and keep the audience wanting more. My favourite would have to be how edgy and how lighting makes Robbie William’s video ‘Lovelight’ so dramatic. Modern.
9. His influence When Jake Nava directed female artists in front of the camera, they were shown to be looking at a woman’s body in a voyeuristic way. I think he has influenced me to show that our artist doesn’t always have to be looked upon in a certain way (In a way you want to prove him wrong, and that it is possible.) Where our song is ‘Girl’s Just Wanna Have Fun’ it gives us the chance to show that women can still be seen to be having fun without being looked upon JUST as a sex symbol.
