In one of our class lessons this week we were given the task of, in groups, coming up with an idea for a music video for Life is a Gun by Jay Malinowski, however we were only given one lesson to do this and then feedback to the class, we were also just given the lyrics without any information about the artist or the song such as, genre, tempo, regional identity. The lyrics are as follows:
Deep in the past We can trigger to the barrel blast On the avenue Where I would crash into you
What's done is done and life is a gun Life is a gun on the run Oh my dear, isn't life a gun A story shotgun that came undone We came undone
New York's cold On the road we became old Standing still But I'm running against all my will
What's done is done and life is a gun Life is a gun on the run Oh my dear, isn't life a gun A story shotgun that came undone We came undone
The well won path Was never something I would walk So lay it down Lay these guns in the ground
What's done is done and life is a gun Life is a gun on the run Oh my dear, isn't life a gun A story shotgun that came undone
What's done is done and life is a gun Life is a gun on the run Oh my dear, isn't life a gun
With only
the lyrics to work with my group decided that we would set it in an almost apocalyptic
New York, we thought this would be a good location as it went with the lyrics
'New York's cold' and we thought that they 'deep in the past' could refer to
something that’s happened before the apocalypse. We thought that the narrative
of the video would be adolescent males walking through the streets, in cold war
uniforms carrying guns and weapons, we chose to have them adolescent rather
than adult as we felt this would really emphasise the harsh reality of war and
it complimented the lyrics 'On the road we became old,' so having visuals of
young boys walking down roads could give the impression that the war went on
for a long time. We also made decisions on editing, we decided to shoot the
video is black and white with a Chroma key effect which would pick out the
colours of the uniforms to emphasise their importance and we also felt that
using slow motion would make the video appear more sad.
Then we
were given the chance to listen to the song through once and given the chance
to change and adapt our ideas.
We were
quite pleased with what we heard as it was part of the alternative/indie genre
and this is what we had guessed it would be. However the tempo was faster than
we thought it would be so this influenced our new ideas. We then chose to not
make it slow motion as we felt it would not go with the tempo of the song. We
developed our idea by deciding to show the army men dropping their guns and
weapons as they walk and to gradually have the colour come back, although the
lighting would still be quite dark, and have the streets start to look more
like the modern day New York and less like an apocalyptic world. We thought
this would tie in with the music as it was quite a happy tempo in contrast with
the lyrics so this way our video would end on a happier tone which would fit
the speed of the song.
We then
watched the official music video.
The music
video was in black and white but this was the only similarity as the official
music video focuses on a relationship.
I think this exercise was really
useful as it showed us that when coming up with an idea for a music video you
have to take lyrics and the music into account and that both are just as
important to think about otherwise the video may not fit the song.
As well as Youtube, which is where a majority of people will look for a specific music video, there are also television channels that focus on showing music videos, although often they will also show other shows such as reality tv.
These stations will mostly focus on one genre of music to show so that they can target an audience and boost their ratings and so because of this stations get reputations for what type of music they show.
Kerrang!
Kerrang! started off as a magazine, first published in 1981 and since then it has expanded into a website, a radio station, a Kerrang! music tour ( in collaboration with Relentless energy drink), award shows and a television channel. It is know to play more 'alternative music' such as rock, metal, pop-punk and indie. Whilst it does play music that is not played in the charts it also covers more mainstream music such as Biffy Clyro, Nickleback and Oasis.
4Music
4Music is a new channel and has only been on the air since 2008. It shows 'pop' music and has such music video shows as UKHot40 which plays the top selling songs in the UK from the past week. It also shows television shows such as 8 out of 10 cats. It has a reputation for being one of the most up to date shows to see the latest music videos from famous artists. It also shows live footage from V Festival and T4 on the Beach.
Scuzz
Scuzz, first launched in 2003, has been described as similar to Kerrang! however for people who watch the show it is generally understood that it is more 'hardcore'. Scuzz tends to show more heavy metal, death metal, hard rock and punk in comparison to Kerrang's focus on the softer side of alternative and plays more underground music. As well as music Scuzz also has interviews with artists, live footage from concerts and has festival partnerships with festivals such as Download, Sonisphere and Slam Dunk.
Intertextuality in a music video is when it has links and
references to another media form, mainly films; it is often used and can be
seen in a wide range of genres and artists. A reason why intertextuality is so
common is because it is a marketing technique, if the film is well known then
it is more likely that incorporating it into a music video will create a lot of
publicity with people discussing why and how effectively it has been used. It
will help to target the audience for the music video by using a film that is stereotypically
associated with the people who listen to this music.
However using
this promotion technique can become quite expensive as often the music video
will be prolonged to fit in the narrative of the film and as generally films
have a larger budget than music videos some scenes can be hard to reshoot with
less money.
This can be seen
in the video for The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars (directed by Bartholomew
Cubbins) in which the links to The Shinning (1980) can be clearly recognised.
The whole music video is based around the narrative of the film but with the
band instead of a family. To get the mise-en-scene right for this would have
cost a lot more than a simple narrative and performance based video.Before the song starts there is about a
minuet of pre-song dialogue showing the band traveling to the hotel, entering
and finding the ‘creepy’ note which of course would cost more money than just
filming footage for the length of the song, however it makes the
intertextuality more effective.
Throughout the video 30 Seconds to Mars show
lots of different parts of The Shinning, but interestingly do not use the most obvious
parts such as John with the axe and instead of showing the small boy on his
tricycle there are scenes of one of the band members on a skateboard riding
down the hall.
The shinning has
become quite a cult classic and due to its dark nature it is assumed that a lot
of people who listen to 30 Seconds to Mars, who are classed as rock, would have
seen and enjoyed the film, making it more likely that they would want to watch
the music video and therefore listen to the song.
Slightly
different to this video is Busted-Year 3000,
This vide is no
based around one film in particular but has lots of little references to other
things incorporated into it. The first
visuals of the music video looks like a retro game, something like Pac man and
space invaders, the colours used are bright pink and green which is typical of
the retro game. This could be because the song is about the future and so they
want to show a contrast between the old times, the present, and the future.
The next bit of
intertextuality is with the time machine and the young boy that built it, this
is strong visual links to the film Back to the Future, the car represents the
De Lorean in the film and the boy bears a strong visual resemblance to the Doc
in the film, although much younger he has the same kind of hair and is wearing
the same clothes to make this intertextuality evident. They may have done this
to compliment the lyrics ‘a time machine, like one in a film I’d seen.’ However
they are a lot of famous time machines and the fact that they have chosen Back
to the Future to mimic has meaning as its seen more as a comedy film than
sci-fi and so more of Busted’s target market would have probably seen it, it
has also become quite a cult classic and has a strong following with tee-shirts
and models being sold. This means that it is the most effective to use to gain
more publicity.
The scenes of the
‘future’ are animated in the same sort of style as Futurama, whichagain is comedy more than sci-fi and would
appeal to Busted’s target audience.
There is also a
reference to Michael Jackson and the music video Billy Jean, this adds some
humour as in this video he is a cartoon. Jackson would have been at the peak of
his career at this point and so by using popular references Busted are insuring
that everybody gets the reference and understands whereas their younger audience
may not get the Back to the Future intertextuality. It is also quite a controversial thing to say
that they will out-sell him.
From asking friends and looking on social networking sites and music sharing sites such as Soundcloud and ReverbNation I have found some local bands that I could possibly make a music video for in September.
'Amberline bring a re-energising twist to the typical formula of the pop-punk sound, citing their influences from mighty greats like Funeral For A Friend, ADTR, Enter Shikari and Blink 182. With continuous gigging, a new record set for a 2012 release and relentless hard-work, you would be mad to miss out on this.'
Satellite are an acoustic style band and have so far recorded six original songs and is made up of Brice, Mike and Harry, who all play guitar, sing vocals, and write the songs for Satellite.
'Fake The Attack are a five-piece pop/ rock band based in Hampshire, South England. The band formed in November of 2009 and since then have been relentlessly trying to reach as many people as they possibly can with they're music. They recently released they're debut 6 track EP which was recorded at Outhouse Studios in Reading by John Mitchell and Ben Humphreys. The EP featuers the singles 'November' and 'Toronto' which they shot an official music video for with Tom Barnes. Fake The Attack plan to make a name for themselves travelling as far and wide as possible, giving every last breath to their future.'
Vintage Crow are a progressive hard rock band from Maidenhead, last year they won the Kidwells Festival Battle of the Bands and since then have recorded their first song, magpie. Over the next few months they have some studio time to record more songs for their EP.
There are a lot of different genres in the music world and
even more sub genres, for example ‘rock’ can be broken down into ‘pop-rock’ ‘punk-rock’
‘classic-rock’ ‘rock and roll’ to name just a few. However the most commonly
used main genres are
·Rock
·Pop
·R&B
Different types of genres often have different codes and
conventions when it comes to music videos as they are aimed at different
audiences. This means that the mise-en-scene has to be carefully considered and
chosen to fit with the genre and audience which is why some music videos are so
different.
A few basic codes and conventions,
Rock,
·Shots of band playing to an audience, normally at
an intimate venue.
·People wearing clothes associated with this
genre, black, skinny jeans, band tee’s, leather.
·Focus on the band actually playing their
instruments, contrast to a lot of pop music where the artist only sings.
·Crowd jumping, moshing, crowd surfing.
Pop music,
·Attractive people, normally some sort of romance
narrative.
Cutting to the beat- this is when the footage is edited to
compliment the beat of the song and the action happens in time with the beat.
It can also mean that camera angles change at every beat.A good example of a music video which uses
this technique is Good Charlotte-I Don’t Wanna be in Love.
Whilst researching
this I found a really good tutorial for how to do this on Final Cut Pro, which
is the editing software that I’ll use when I come to making my music video.
Effects- Using editing software many different effects can
be used in music videos to achieve a wide range of different effects. Using
effects can enhance the video but if it is not done right it can come across as
looking amateur and can ruin it. When using effects it is vital to consider the
target market, the type of effect and if it will work with the type of music
and the advantages and disadvantages of using effects. Effects can include
Chroma-Key and black and white. Plain White T’s- Hey There Delilah use colour
effects.
The use of effects can also be seen in Maroon 5’s Misery. In
the American version only a few superimposed images are used toward the end of
the music video however in the UK version a lot more have been used as a way of
censoring what is seen due to the violent and aggressive nature of the video.
For example in the American version the woman can be seen playing with a knife
and in the UK they have added a cartoon ice cream cone over the top of the knife
so that it is less controversial.
Miming and lip syncing- This is where the artist is filmed
miming to the song and then it is edited so that it appears they are actually
performing but they are not. This is one of the most common techniques used in
music videos and can be seen in a lot of them. A good example of this is Nickelback-
Rockstar. In this video a many different number of actors are seen miming to
the song.
Playback and lip syncing- Different to miming, this is when
footage of the band playing live in concert is edited to the song. An
example is November Rain by Guns&Roses where they mix actual live footage
into the video.
There are different types of action that can be used in a music video.
Film- This is the most common form of music video, it is a directed video filmed as you would a film or for television. You can see this is almost every music video but one example is Lady Gaga- Bad Romance. This video is the epitome of the modern 'pop' music video, featuring the artist, dynamic filming and impressive costumes, sets and dance routines.
Amateur footage- This is where the footage used has been filmed by a non professional camera man, normally backstage or on tour, it shows a more personal side of the artist as the action has not been scripted- An example is Taylor Swift- the Best Day. This is a video compiled totally of footage of Swift from when she was younger from family home videos.
Stop Motion Animation- This is a form of animation where a series of photos are taken, usually ten per second, and the objects are moved subtly between photos so that it appears to be moving on its own when the photos are played together.An example is Oren Lavie- Her Morning Elegance. This is a stop motion video featuring the artist and a female actor.
Computer Animation- Music videos that are made using computer generated programs, an example is Radiohead- Paranoid Android.
Some music video mix these forms and include more than one,an example is Red Hot Chili Peppers- Californication. In this they mix computer animation with footage of them performing.
Performance videos- This is when the music video predominantly shows the band/musician performing and there is no real backline or story to the video, an example is, One Direction- One Thing. In this music video the band are filmed in various places in London whilst miming the song.
Narrative- This includes a story and the music video is based around this story. It plays out as more of a movie with the song as a soundtrack, rather than a promotional music video. An example is Bob Dylan-Beyond Here Lies Nothin’. This video tells the story of two people and Dylan himself is not featured in the video.
Cameo- This is where the artist features in the narrative of the music video but is not seen performing an example is Panic! At the Disco- Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off. In this music video the band can be seen acting in the music video but they are not performing at any point.
Mixture- This is when there is a narrative but also show the musician or band performing. An Example is Hinder-Better than Me. This shows the story between a man and woman in a relationship but also features the band playing in a separate location.
The video opens from a black blank screen and the song starts straight away, this gives the assumption that the music video will not be a hugely complicated storyline as these often start with some pre-song dialogue and shots.
For the first three shots the camera is jerky and goes in and out of focus as it cuts between the three band members, this creates a sense of an confusion for the audience and also makes the video appear more ‘homemade’ and amateur, whilst still showing the audience the band and therefore acting as a promotional video for them.
It then changes to an outside location; the shot is a close up. The mise-en-scene in this shot contrasts a lot to the previous, which we have yet to see much of but from the background behind the band we can see bright colours and balloons. In the second location its evening and sunset, which can have connotations of being romantic, but it this one there are clouds covering a majority of the sky, taking away from that effect. Also in the shot is a fence topped with barbed wire, this makes the location appear dangerous and not somewhere you would like to be, this is backed up by the bars that are in the very foreground of the shot. The shot then flashes to the same location by more zoomed out and after short while a toy robot walks into view which at this point seems rather random. The lighting is quite blue and black, especially in the foreground on the robot which makes the scene appear cold and contrasts with the orange sun the background. This shot lasts for about eight seconds, which is quite a long time for one shot particularly one with very little going on in it, like this.
It then flashes back to the front man, Deryck Whibley, and again the camera moves focus from the background to Deryck. In the next shot the robot is seen walking again and more of the location is exposed, it is an urban city like environment, rubble lines the road that the robot is walking on and there is a lot of industrial looking structures. Again the scene is tinged with a blue light apart from the robot which we can now see is gold and silver and looks like a very standard toy that could be bought in any shop.
After this there is then a short shot of the drummer but it is quite hard to distinguish him, due to the camera shot and the way that the camera has been angled, this helps to break up the scenes of the robot and also to keep establishing the band. This single was the first released after the departure of one of the original guitarists and this was the first music video without him in it, it would have therefore been important to show that there are now only three of them and reestablish themselves as a band without him. When we next see the robot it is lying on a bench covered in newspapers much like a homeless person could do and this presents the idea that the toy robot is being personified and is living on the streets. The bench its self has the words ‘keep our city clean and safe, do your part.’ written on them which creates an irony between the words and that the robot is sleeping on it. This adds humour to the scene which could have otherwise looked quite sad. There is then a close up on the robots face which somehow looks quite sad even though it is an emotionless face.
This is contrasted with the next shot of the robot which is taken from a low angle which makes it appear strong and powerful and shows the robot slowing looking around,the camera slowly rotates around the robot which makes the rays from the sun change place within the shot and adds effect to the scene. It also shows how the shot has obviously been very carefully set up by the director. This shot presents completely different image of the robot than that seen in the first few shots, in this pone it looks in control and content, this reflects the lyrics ‘the king of all that’s said and done’ that is sung at the same point of this shot and the lyrics ‘I’m just a kid with no ambitions,’ when the robot is lying on the bench, this could suggest that the robot is the narrator of the lyrics, or can just relate to them.
For the next lyrics ‘the forgotten son.’ it shows Deryck singing in the foreground and Cone, the bassist, in the background, the next shot is of the drummer and this highlights my previous point about the band having to now establish themselves as a trio. At the subsequent lyrics ‘I walk along these no-name streets.’ There is a close up of robots feet as it walks and this compliments the lyrics.In the background there are pigeons and litter which represents the typical idea of a city that is run down.
Then we get an establishing shot of where the band are playing and it is a toy store, they are surrounded by colourful toys and objects the band name Sum 41 are pinned up on a screen behind the drummer in bright and bold colours and this is a good promotional technique as people who are unfamiliar with the band will more likely remember their name. As Deryck sings ‘as I fall’ we see the robot falling off the edge of a curb and into a puddle as the music slows down, this creates a sense of sadness and makes you feel sympathy for the robot pas though it were actually alive.
At this point the tempo of the song picks up considerably and so does the editing of the video. The footage itself has been sped up and it plays in double time whilst jump cuts are used to show how the tempo of the song has changed. For the next part of the song the video flashes quickly between shots of the band, mainly Deryck, and it is not uncommon for the front man to get more screen time that then rest of the band as they are often thought of as the most integral part of the band and the most easily recognised. When Deryck sings ‘I pledge allegiance to a world of disbelief.’ There is a standard mid-shot of the band playing and we see Deryck salute the same as you would when you pledge allegiance to the United States, there is also a life size statue of a Native American in the background who is also saluting, and this creates a subtle sense of irony. As this part is the chorus the focus is on the band and the camera changes between different shots of the band.
At the instrumental leading into the second verse the video returns to the robots, this time waiting for a train in the subway, this may back up the point of the robot being a homeless person as the subway is a common place where they are portrayed as hanging around. Here the video matches up perfectly with the music with the train jumping positions where the music jumps and then slowing down into slow motion when the music is flowing. The video jumps back to the band just as the singing starts again.
The video continues to flash between the band members playing and the robot in the city. It then shows the robot drinking what appears to be beer from a bottle and attempting to stand up and walk in a rather unstable manor , just as though it were drunk, by this time it is quite apparent that the robot seems to be alive like a human.It is then picked up and thrown into a bin which creates sympathy for it as the audience has come to realise the robot as alive whereas the man in the video obviously does not regard it as such. After jumping out of the dumpster the robot is seen walking again but this time it appears to be out of the middle of the city and is not surrounded in what looks like a dessert landscape, although there are plants it still looks quite dead and barren.The robot comes across a ripped apart teddy bear which is quite a distressing image. As the drums speed up the editing does to, the camera zooms in to the face of the robot and teddy bear before jumping to back to the band. We then see the teddy bear from a number of different angles before seeing that it is actually Deryck that rips it up. This makes the audience question the storyline and now it seems that although they were playing at the same time the two storylines were taking part at different times. At this point the music stops and we have a shot of the bear deserted in the barren place with only the sound of the wind whistling and then we have the robot turning its head.The lack of music here helps emphasises the sadness of the ripped apart teddy bear and the robot all only. It also gives the music a chance to have an extra impact as it starts playing again and drops.
The next shots of the band differ between them playing music and them causing destruction in the toy shop such as Cone smashing his guitar into a table full of toys. This is highly stereotypical of this music as smashing up things with instruments has connotations with more ‘rock’ and ‘punk’ music and so it could be said that this shows what type of genre music Sum 41 is considered as it is unlikely to see such destruction in a ‘pop’ music video.
As the music slows down again we see the robot is still walking and the editing slows down again as the camera shots become longer again to match the tempo. Then the robot walks into the toy shop and we have the last look of the band standing in the middle of the wrecked shop as the stuffing from thetoys falls down around them. When the scene goes back to the robot we see it look up and see a box full of robots just like itself but they are smiling. The music fades out as the camera lingers on the face of the robots. Then the last shot is of the robots all dancing top techno music and close ups of their face smiling, which makes the video end on a happy tone as the robot finally found where it belongs.
1894-First example of an 'illustarted song' featured still images being projected onto a screen through a live performance of Little Lost Child. 1930-'screen songs' introduced which were sing-along cartoon films. 1956- Rise of television coincided with the rise of popular music and the new format gave musicians a new way to publicise themselves. 1964- The Beatles set the bar for the modern music video with Motion Picture A Hard Days Night 1965-Bob Dylan releases the music video for Subterranean Homesick Blues which is known as one of the first modern music videos. 1965- The Beatles release ten promotional videos for their music. 1981- MTV launched, the music channel centres around music videos which have now become a huge way of marketing music. 1983- The hugely famous and inspirational music video, Thriller is released. 1995- Scream, a music video for The Jackson's is released, costing seven million to produce it is one of the most expensive music videos ever. 2005- Youtube and Itunes open, giving music videos a new way to be mass consumed. 2010- The amount of music videos watched online reaches 34billion.
