Swinburne Design
DDD20004: Contemporary Design Issues
Semester One 2017
Task 3: Analyse and compare staging tricks and effects of Michel Gondry and Busby Berkeley
Due Date/Time: Wednesday 12 April, 9.00AM
Word count: 350-400 words including quote and in-text reference. Note the source at the end and image with url in brackets below.
Context:
On Wednesday in Week 6 we are watching a documentary about Michel Gondry which shows his enthusiasm for old-fashioned magic, in-camera effects and staging tricks. In class we are discussing a chapter of Rubin’s book about the work of Busby Berkeley who may have influenced Gondry. The author argues that Berkeley was an innovator in cinema but that many of the elements he used were already well-established in live theatre.
In this task you will analyse a scene from a contemporary music clip, trailor or advertisement by Gondry. Please select one from the list below (List 2) and explain how his work has used one or more of the following staging effects. Please explain how one or more from List 1 were employed in your selected scene.
List 1
• Glow-in the dark effects, (radium numbers) p.61
• Instruments as props, pp.61-63
• Gigantism, pp.63-64
• Transformations, pp.64-65
• Placards, pp.65-66
• Water spectacles, pp.67-68
• Objectification of the feminine, pp.70-71
• Part of a pattern, pp.71-72
• The kaleidoscope, pp.72-74
Steps to complete the assignment:
1. View the screening. You should have attended the screening of the documentary Part 2 ‘I’ve Been Twelve Forever’ from the ‘A’ Side of the DVD The Work of the Director Michel Gondry, or arranged to view a copy, in the library or from another source.
2. Read the Week 6 reading in the Learning Materials tab.
3. Choose a scene from a contemporary music clip, trailer or advertisement by Gondry. Please select from List 2.
4. Choose one or more of Berkeley’s staging effects from List 1.
5. Analyse:
a) Write about Gondry’s use of staging effects in your example referring to at least one specific scene.
b) Compare it to a similar effect or trick used in a particular film by Berkeley.
Note:
• You must use a relevant quote from this week’s set reading to support your argument.
• You should always list the details at the end of your writing when you reference a text.
• Provide an APA 6th edition style in-text reference to acknowledge the quote (see the example below) and make sure the quote is grammatically integrated.
Berkeley used “an existing set of forms and traditions that, even as they tapered off on the stage, were about to flare up in the nascent film musical and become identified with his name” (Rubin, 1993, p.60).
If you mention the author’s name when introducing the quote you can leave it out of the reference and just give the year and page number in the bracket, like this:
Rubin argues that Berkeley used “an existing set of forms and traditions that, even as they tapered off on the stage, were about to flare up in the nascent film musical and become identified with his name” (1993, p.60).
6. Embed an image from your example and acknowledge the url in brackets. (An easy way to capture an image is an edited ‘screen shot’; Command+shift+4, put the cross in the top left corner of the image and drag out to the bottom right.)
You must use Grammarly, or Spellcheck and Grammarcheck all tasks before submission.
Rubin, M. (1993). Showstoppers: Busby Berkeley and the Tradition of the Spectacle, New York: Columbia University Press. [Chapter 4 Broadway Before Berkeley]

Examples to choose from;
Gap Advertisement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-Ll3-llQPo
Hardest Button to Button (White Stripes)
https://vimeo.com/7442369
Come Into My World (Kylie Minogue)
https://vimeo.com/11523543
Let Forever Be (Chemical Brothers)
https://vimeo.com/10141476
Garry Jules (Mad World)
https://vimeo.com/42593604
Around the World (Daft Punk)
https://vimeo.com/8188121
Everlong (Foo Fighters)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y
One Day – short film
https://vimeo.com/9803713
Mood Indigo – Trailor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38ugyccL5zU
If you are unsure using about how to use a quote watch the LAS Tutorial 1 titled Quoting and Paraphrasing in the LAS tab.
Or access this link; http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/learn-skills/essay-writing-skills/using-quotes